HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Security (Abingdon Street Barrier)

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon representing the House of Commons Commission 
	(1)  if the Commission will arrange for a police box at the steel barrier in Abingdon Street to protect police and security guards on duty from adverse weather conditions; what representations he has received from  (a) the Police Federation and  (b) other representatives of security guards and police officers about the installation of a police box; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether police officers and security guards working at the steel barrier in Abingdon Street are provided with waterproof clothing; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: Arrangements at the Corus barriers outside the Palace of Westminster are kept under regular review. The Metropolitan Police have received representations from the Police Federation and others about the health, safety and welfare of the security team who staff the barriers. The final arrangements at the barriers are still under consideration and improvements may result in a reduction in the numbers of staff on duty. Waterproof clothing is already supplied. Following a review, improved protective clothing has been identified and is due to be supplied shortly.

TREASURY

Average Incomes

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the average income per person in Coventry, South.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 May 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about average income per person in the Coventry South constituency. I am replying in her absence. (73463)
	The ONS published estimates of household income for regions and local areas of the UK on 9 May 2006. Coventry South is within the NUTS(1) 3 area of Coventry. This is the most detailed level of geography for which estimates are produced.
	Table A contains estimates of total incomes per head and Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) per head for Coventry.
	(1) Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics
	
		
			  Table A: Coventry NUTS3 
			  £ per head( 1) 
			   Total income( 2)  GDHI( 3) 
			 1995 11,118 7,318 
			 1996 11,467 7,615 
			 1997 12,113 8,099 
			 1998 12,868 8,370 
			 1999 13,447 8,789 
			 2000 14,401 9,348 
			 2001 15,106 9,897 
			 2002 15,428 10,145 
			 2003 16,004 10,515 
			 2004 16,790 10,847 
			 (1) Population measure is based upon mid-year estimate for total population (2 )All household income including employers' social contributions, imputed social contributions, social benefits and other current transfers received.  (3 )Gross disposable household income (GDHI) is the amount of money that households have available for spending or saving after deductions and expenditure associated with income, eg taxes and social contributions, and provision for future pension income.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 8 March 2006.

John Healey: The Treasury has no record of having received the letter. Having obtained a copy, I have now written to the hon. Gentleman.

Criminal Justice

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the Home Office against its public service agreement targets for  (a) reducing the fear of crime and  (b) increasing confidence in the criminal justice system; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Treasury's assessment of the Home Office's progress against public service agreement targets can be found on the Treasury website under www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/performance This shows the progress against departmental PSA targets as detailed in annual departmental reports, published each spring, and the Department's autumn performance report.
	The latest figures on the Home Office's performance against its PSA target to 'Reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour, and building confidence in the criminal justice system without compromising fairness', show that the Department is on course or ahead of target in all components of the target.
	Further information about the targets and the latest progress assessment can be found in the Home Office's autumn 2005 progress report which is available on the Home Office website.

Economic Growth

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the prospects for future economic growth in the United Kingdom economy.

John Healey: The Government set out its latest assessment of UK economic developments and prospects in Financial Statement and Budget Report 2006 (HC 968) on 22 March 2006.

European Commissioners

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times he has met  (a) Commissioner McCreevy and  (b) Commissioner Kroes since their appointment to the European Commission.

Edward Balls: Treasury Ministers and officials have conversations and discussions with a wide range of organisations and individuals as part of the process of policy development, analysis and delivery.
	As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of every such meeting.

European Union

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) net contribution to the EU budget,  (b) net contribution to the EU institutions and  (c) net expenditure transfers (i) were in each year from 2001-02 to 2005-06 and (ii) are forecast to be from 2007-08 to 2012-13; and what assessment he has made of how each would change should (A) Romania and (B) Bulgaria's accession to the EU be delayed for a year.

Edward Balls: The UK net contributions to the EC budget and net payments to EC institutions for the period 2001-02 to 2007-08 are presented in Table 3.2 of the European community finances White Paper (Cm 6770) published on 24 May 2006. Net expenditure transfers over this period are in Table 1.1 of the public expenditure statistical analyses (Cm 6811) published on 15 May 2006. 2007-08 is the final year of the current public expenditure planning cycle and forecasts beyond this period will be included in the comprehensive spending review 2007. For estimated net contributions to the EC budget over the next financial perspective I refer the hon. Member to the reply to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) on 31 January 2005,  Official Report, column 399W.
	The Government have not produced estimates for the financial implications of delaying the accession of Romania and Bulgaria.

European Union

John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2006,  Official Report, column1099W, on EU membership, if he will list the studies undertaken by his Department.

Edward Balls: My earlier answer gave details of the Treasury's work on this issue.

Insurance Mediation

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the implementation of the EU Directive on insurance mediation in the UK.

Edward Balls: The financial services authority (FSA) assumed responsibility for the regulation of general insurance on 14 January 2005. The FSA's regime served to implement the EU's insurance mediation directive in the UK.
	The FSA began a review of the effectiveness of the general insurance regime in April 2006. This review will include seeking feedback from firms and consumer research.
	Separately, the Treasury will review early in 2007 whether travel insurance sold as part of a package should be subject to FSA regulation. The IMD only requires the regulation of travel insurance if sold on a stand-alone basis.

Insurance Mediation

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations he has received on the impact of the EU directive on insurance mediation on small and medium-sized  (a) enterprises traders and  (b) freight forwarders in the UK;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the implementation of the EU directive on insurance mediation on small and medium-sized enterprises traders and freight forwarders in the UK.

Edward Balls: The financial services authority (FSA) assumed responsibility for the regulation of general insurance on 14 January 2005. The FSA's regime served to implement the EU's insurance mediation directive in the UK.
	The FSA will begin a review of the effectiveness of the general insurance regime in April 2006. This will include seeking feedback from firms and consumer research.
	The impact of the IMD implementation on the UK's freight forwarding sector has been the subject of discussions between the British international freight association (BIFA) and HM Treasury. The Government are confident that the UK has correctly translated the IMD into UK legislation.

Public Sector Reform

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Prime Minister's announcement on 15 May 2006 that he is to play a lead role in public sector reform, when he plans to outline his proposals; what his remit is in relation to the Home Office; how he will co-ordinate this role with that of the Home Secretary; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: As the Prime Minister set out, the Chancellor remains responsible for public spending. The forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review will represent a long-term and fundamental review of government expenditure across all Government Departments, including an assessment of the future trends and challenges for public services.

Public Sector Reform

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has held with the Home Secretary following the Prime Minister's announcement that he is to take a lead role in public service reform.

Stephen Timms: The Chancellor regularly meets with Secretaries of State and other Ministers to discuss a wide range of issues.

Tax Credits

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Denton and Reddish constituency received overpayments of  (a) child tax credit and  (b) working tax credit for each year since 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring) on 24 May (72637).

Tax Revenue

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Government raised in tax revenue in each of the last five years.

John Healey: Total public sector current receipts in the last five financial years are included by the Office for National Statistics in "Public Sector finances: Supplementary (Quarterly) Data", which was last published on 27 April 2006.
	This publication can be accessed on-line via the following link: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset .asp?vlnk=8885&More=Y.

Taxation

Alan Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on tax revenue in the financial year 2006-07 of the decisions  (a) to remove the 0 per cent. starting rate of corporation tax,  (b) not to up-rate the corporation tax thresholds in line with inflation and  (c) the removal of the tax exemption for employer-provided laptop computers.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 30 March 2006
	The information is as follows:
	 (a) The decision to remove both the 0 per cent. starting rate and the 19 per cent. non-corporate distribution rate of corporation tax was announced in the 2005 Pre-Budget Report. The effect on tax revenue in the financial year 2006-07 of this decision may be found at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/20F/2F/bud06_cha_134.pdf in Table A2 under Building a Fairer Society: tackling tax motivated incorporation.
	 (b) There is no requirement to increase the corporation tax profit limits in line with inflation. The upper profit limit (currently £1,500,000) is tied through regulations to the limit below which companiesno longer pay corporation tax through quarterly instalments, so increasing it would have an impact on the timing of tax receipts from some companies. Given this, it is not possible to estimate accurately the impact of increasing the profit limits on tax receipts in advance of setting the transitional rules that would be required for these companies.
	 (c) The decision to remove the tax exemption for employer provided computer equipment was announced at Budget 2006. The effect of this decision on Exchequer revenue in the financial year 2006-07 may be found at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/20F/2F/bud06_cha_134.pdf in Table A1 under Building a Fairer Society: Duties and other tax changes.

Vehicle Sharing

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what incentives his Department offers to encourage staff to share vehicles when travelling to work.

John Healey: The Treasury is located in Westminster and is well served by public transport. Very few staff travel to work by car and no special incentives exist to encourage car sharing except when public transport is disrupted.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Avian Influenza

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the chief veterinary officer's report on the H5 avian influenza exposure in October 2005, on what date the antibodies were found; where they were found; how many birds revealed antibodies; and whether the geese were  (a) (i) imported and (ii) homebred and  (b) kept for (A) consumption and (B) eggs.

Ben Bradshaw: Samples taken from a number of geese on 31 October 2005 from an informal bird rescue centre in Somerset tested positive for antibodies to H5 avian influenza. Three geese had positive antibody titres to H5N2 and 10 geese had positive antibody titres to H5N7.
	The geese, sourced locally, were not kept for consumption or egg production.

Avian Influenza

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the chief veterinary officer's report on the avian influenza exposure in October 2005, what tests were undertaken on wild birds in the area; what the results were of these tests; whether antibodies showed the birds were exposed to the H5 virus; whether there was evidence the birds had recovered from infection; and what assessment he has made of the length of time H5 viruses have been spread between wild birds.

Ben Bradshaw: No additional tests were undertaken in response to the findings of H5N2 and H5N7 antibodies in geese in October 2005. A veterinary inquiry was instigated and clinical examination revealed that the geese were healthy. Further sampling and laboratory tests did not isolate avian influenza viruses and the presence of infection with avian influenza viruses was ruled out. It is likely that the positive antibody result was due to previous exposure to low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses.
	It is not uncommon to find LPAI viruses in wild birds and any event of unusually high wild bird mortality in the area would have been investigated through virological testing.

Avian Influenza

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2006,  Official Report, column 833W, on avian influenza, how many approved commercial landfill sites there are; what estimate his Department has made of the maximum disposal capacity they provide; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: My officials are working with the Environment Agency to review the capacity of suitably permitted landfills for the disposal of infected poultry carcases in the event that there is insufficient capacity at incineration and rendering plants.
	Based on the capacity as assessed following the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001, my officials advise that there would be more than sufficient capacity in commercial licensed landfill to dispose of the projected number of poultry carcases.
	Part III of the "Exotic Animal Disease Generic Contingency Plan", published by Defra in December 2005, sets out the structures and systems that would be implemented in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza and describes the Government's capability to provide the resources to implement the control policies. The Plan is available on the Defra website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/pdf/genericcp.pdf

Avian Influenza

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2006,  Official Report, column 833W, on avian influenza, what measures his Department has in place to prevent wild birds from scavenging from  (a) on-farm burial sites and  (b) commercial landfill sites; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: There are no plans for the on-farm burial of poultry carcases in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza. In the event that commercial licensed landfill was used for carcase disposal, this risk would be mitigated by ensuring that carcases were immediately covered with other material to a depth of at least 1 m and that at the end of each working day, carcases were covered by at least 2m of cover material.
	All landfill sites used for carcase disposal will have Pollution, Prevention and Control (PPC) conditions in place as well as a bespoke bird deterrent/management plan drawn up and implemented by bird control experts from the Central Science Laboratory.
	Part III of the "Exotic Animal Disease Generic Contingency Plan", published by Defra in December 2005, sets out the structures and systems that would be implemented in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza and describes the Government's capability to provide the resources to implement the control policies. The Plan is available on the Defra website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/pdf/genericcp.pdf

Bovine TB

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why the pilot study of the gamma interferon bovine tuberculosis test was abandoned; which part of the Department  (a) designed and  (b) implemented the pilot study; and what assessment has been made of the process.

Ben Bradshaw: The pilot study of the gamma interferon blood test was halted in October 2005 because the slow recruitment rate of herds (195 herds against a projected requirement of 600) meant that the project was unlikely to be completed before 2012. Given the significance of the bovine tuberculosis problem, we believed this was too long to wait.
	Defra's Animal Health Division and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) designed the study, which was implemented by the VLA and the State Veterinary Service.
	Some useful lessons have been learnt from the process, and these are being applied as we develop new policies for the wider roll out of the gamma interferon test.

Derby/London (Emissions)

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the amount of carbon emissions produced by a train journey from Derby to London.

Ian Pearson: The Derby to London train journey is 193 kilometres, which produces approximately 2.7kg of carbon dioxide emissions in total.

European Landfill Directive

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made with changes to the effects of the European Landfill Directive in its application to pet cemeteries since May 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Pet cemeteries are landfill sites and their operation is subject to the requirements of the Landfill Directive. Previously they operated under waste management licences issued by the Environment Agency (EA), but under the Landfill Directive, operators of pet cemeteries will now instead be required to apply for a pollution prevention and control permit.
	DEFRA has been working very closely with the EA to ensure that increases in the cost of regulation are kept to a minimum. The EA has classified pet cemeteries as a low risk activity which will attract lower application fees and subsistence charges.
	DEFRA officials are currently working with the EA to investigate the scope for taking an alternative approach to the regulation of pet cemeteries. We expect to announce a proposal for their future regulation very shortly.

Gamebirds

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many commercial hatcheries are listed in the Great Britain Poultry Register in respect of each species.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Species  Number of premises that hatch birds 
			 Chicken 271 
			 Turkey 54 
			 Ducks 173 
			 Geese 92 
			 Other 603 
			 Unknown 2 
			 Total number of premises registered as being a commercial hatchery 649 
		
	
	This information was produced using data from the Great Britain Poultry Register taken on 12 May 2006. All data are subject to change.
	The GB Poultry Register allows people to register themselves as a commercial hatchery without necessarily indicating which species they hatch, hence the unknown category. It is also possible that premises may have registered themselves as having an incubator capacity but have not registered that they use this for commercial purposes.
	The GB Poultry Register captures data under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (No2) Regulations 2005. Registration is mandatory for premises with 50 or more birds kept for commercial purposes. In addition, the Register also includes voluntary registrations for non-commercial premises and those where fewer than 50 poultry are kept.
	The completeness of the data is dependent on the level of compliance with the legislation as specified above. Owners are required to de-register if they no longer keep poultry.
	Only the major poultry hatchery species i.e. chicken, turkey, duck, goose, have been listed. All other species have grouped in the 'Other' category.
	Two premises in the GB Poultry Register had registered as a commercial hatchery. However, they indicated in a free text field that they did not hatch anything. These premises were removed from this report.

GM Crops

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when he plans to begin the consultation on the co-existence arrangements for genetically modified crops; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans he has to ensure maximum public involvement in the consultation on the co-existence arrangements for genetically modified crops.

David Miliband: holding answer 9 May 2006
	We plan to issue a consultation paper in due course. This will be sent to relevant stakeholder groups and it will also be available on the Defra website. We will encourage everyone who wants to make a contribution on this subject to do so.

Ministerial Flight

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the amount of carbon emissions produced by the use of the RAF Queen's Flight to fly from his constituency to London.

Ian Pearson: The rules on the use of special flights are set out in Travel by Ministers. The annual lists of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500 set out when special flights are used, and the purpose of each trip. Copies are available in the Library. The then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made use of 32 Squadron to attend EU Council meetings in Brussels and Luxemburg.
	Carbon dioxide emissions arising from 32 Squadron flights are included in the Government's carbon offsetting commitment. Carbon emissions arising from the use of these flights have been recorded and offset in the same way as the use of scheduled flights since April 2005.

Nuclear Waste

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has undertaken into the environmental effects of deep-burial of nuclear waste.

Ian Pearson: The independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, which was appointed by the Government in November 2003, has considered existing research into the environmental effects of the disposal of nuclear waste.
	The Committee recently announced an integrated package of draft recommendations for the long-term management of the UK's radioactive waste, which are subject to further consultation with interested parties. The report when completed will be available on www.corwm.org.
	The Environment Agency also maintains a small research and development programme.

Perfluorooctane Sulphonate

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice and guidance  (a) the Department,  (b) the Environment Agency,  (c) the Government's Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances and  (d) the Drinking Water Inspectorate has issued on the use of perfluorooctane sulphonate.

Ian Pearson: DEFRA, and the Government's Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances have not issued any guidance on the use of perflurooctane sulphonate. However, a European Commission proposal for a Directive (76/769/EC), relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of perfluorooctane sulphonates (PFOSs) is currently being negotiated. While the UK welcomes the proposals we do not feel that they go far enough, and the UK is now aiming to strengthen these proposals by working through a co-decision process at EU level.
	We have reached agreement with member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the hazard profile of PFOS see www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/18/2382880.pdf We are also working to have PFOS agreed as a persistent organic pollutant and subject to international controls under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the UNECE Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants. This is a longer-term aim.
	The Environment Agency has not issued advice or guidance on the use of PFOS. It has however requested that it be phased out on the basis of its toxicty to the environment and humans.
	While the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has not issued specific advice or guidance on the use of PFOS, it has provided advice to organisations involved in the response to the Buncefield fire on the regulation of PFOS in drinking water. A value of three micrograms per litre was provided by the DWI to the Three Valleys water company as reflecting the best available evidence on which the water company can base its judgment of wholesomeness and safety, and the actions, if any, that it may need to take to safeguard drinking water quality going forward.
	The current national advice provided by the Health Protection Agency is that it appears unlikely that a lifetime's consumption of drinking-water containing concentrations of up to three micrograms of PFOS per litre would harm human health.

Pheasants

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many pheasants have been imported from France in each of the last 10 years; whether bird imports are still permitted; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 27 March 2006
	The EU-wide system for recording the number of livestock imported into each member state, TRACES, does not differentiate between different types of game birds. Further, there are inconsistencies in the way that data can be inputted and interpreted, so the available figures are not reliable. However, the database does show that, to date, no game birds have been imported into the UK from France in 2006.
	Representatives from the shooting industry in this country estimate that around three million pheasants are imported every year into the UK.
	If avian influenza was confirmed or even strongly suspected in wild birds or poultry, then trade in live birds from the affected zone would stop.

REACH Directive

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that the competent authority for the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals regulations in the UK will be suitably equipped in terms of staff and expertise to take account of the occupational health issues arising from the regulations.

Ian Pearson: DEFRA is considering a number of options for the competent authority for the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) in the UK. In evaluating these options consideration will be given to whether they have the ability to address the wide range of issues arising from the regulations, including their capability in terms of staff and expertise to ensure adequate protection of both human health and the environment. As REACH applies without prejudice to existing health and safety legislation, the chosen competent authority will need to demonstrate an ability to work closely with Health and Safety Executive who have overall policy and enforcement responsibility for occupational health legislation.

Water Charges

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) standing charges,  (b) cost per litre and  (c) other charges levied by each water company in England and Wales are to individual households (i) with and (ii) without water meters.

Ian Pearson: The following tables summarise the charges that are levied by water companies on households both with and without water meters.
	
		
			  Unmeasured bills 2006-07 
			   Fixed Charge £/year water  Rateable value charge p/£RV water  Average bill 2006-07 £ water  Fixed Charge £/year sewerage  Rateable value charge p/£RV sewerage  Average bill 2006-07 £ sewerage 
			  Water and sewerage companies   
			 Anglian — — 165.00 126.38 44.40 204.00 
			 Anglian 104.82 40.77 — — — — 
			 Hartlepool 108.84 — — — — — 
			 Dwr Cymru 99.95 56.83 162.00 124.62 75.81 211.00 
			
			  Northumbrian (incl. Essex and Suffolk)   
			 Northumbrian 63.60 38.37 120.00 89.40 42.68 153.00 
			 Essex and Suffolk 36.25 — 167.00 — — — 
			 Essex — 53.48 — — — — 
			 Suffolk — 94.53 — — — — 
			 Severn Trent — — 140.00 — — 133.00 
			 Zone 1 — 81.08 — — 75.52 — 
			 Zone 2 — 73.00 — — 63.60 — 
			 Zone 3 — 70.78 — — 67.00 — 
			 Zone 4 — 73.96 — — 72.65 — 
			 Zone 5 — 85.02 — — 74.77 — 
			 Zone 6 — 88.44 — — 82.10  
			 Zone 7 — 89.02 — — 80.01 — 
			 Zone 8 — 70.78 — — 66.53 — 
			 South West 79.30 84.10 207.00 71.70 194.37 359.00 
			 Southern 27.76 45.00 115.00 52.89 84.00 216.00 
			 Thames 24.00 — 166.00 31.00 — 105.00 
			 Area 1 — 53.96 — — 28.96 — 
			 Area 2 — 54.93 — — 30.02 — 
			 Area 3 — 41.29 — — 18.85 — 
			 Area 4 — 49.44 — — 27.07 — 
			 Area 5 — 63.50 — — 35.48 — 
			 Area 6 — 55.08 — — 29.36 — 
			 Area 7 — 75.67 — — 41.26 — 
			 United Utilities 44.00 63.60 148.00 — 102.20 168.00 
			 Wessex 7.00 97.32 176.00 7.00 100.20 187.00 
			 Yorkshire — — 141.00 32.55 96.60 155.00 
			 Yorkshire 29.63 89.80 — — — — 
			 York 23.25 51.10 — — — — 
			
			  Water only companies   
			 Bournemouth and W Hampshire 21.00 57.19 142.00 — — — 
			 Bristol 21.00 65.10 139.00 — — — 
			 Cambridge 22.50 43.10 118.00 — — — 
			 Cholderton 33.00 62.39 174.00 — — — 
			 Dee Valley — — 127.00 — — — 
			 Chester 29.44 43.74 — — — — 
			 Wrexham 74.64 46.70  — — — 
			 Folkestone and Dover 40.00 87.30 182.00 — — — 
			 Mid Kent 49.00 60.68 163.00 — — — 
			 Portsmouth 19.00 — 80.00 — — — 
			 South East 12.00 28.70 168.00 — — — 
			 Eastbourne — 88.77 — — — — 
			 Mid-Southern — 51.37 — — — — 
			 Mid-Sussex — 94.48 — — — — 
			 West Kent — 82.73 — — — — 
			 South Staffordshire — 51.40 106.00 — — — 
			 Sutton and East Surrey — — 159.00 — — — 
			 Croydon 37.00 33.60 — — — — 
			 Northern area 137.80 — — — — — 
			 Southern area 37.00 57.48 — — — — 
			 Tendring Hundred 33.00 90.06 200.00 — — — 
			 Three Valleys (incl. North Surrey) — — 150.00 — — — 
			 Three Valleys 32.40 — — — — — 
			 Colne valley — 41.11 — — — — 
			 Lee valley — 50.49 — — — — 
			 Rickmansworth — 40.06 — — — — 
			 North Surrey 32.40 42.21 — — — — 
			  Note:  Bill = fixed charge + (rateable value charge x rateable value of property) 
		
	
	
		
			  Measured bills 2006-07 
			   Volumetric charge p/m( 3) *  Standing charge £/year water  Average bill 2006-07 £ water  Volumetric charge p/m( 3) * sewerage  Standing charge £/year sewerage  Average bill 2006-07 £ sewerage 
			  Water and sewerage companies   
			 Anglian — — 121.00 — — 156.00 
			 Anglian: Standard 106.46 24.00 — 106.58 62.00 — 
			 SoLow 138.46 0.00 — 189.25 0.00 — 
			 Aquacare Plus 58.46 60.00 — 50.58 104.00 — 
			 Hartlepool: Standard 74.41 24.00 — — — — 
			 SoLow 106.41 0.00 — — — — 
			 Aquacare Plus 43.75 47.00 — — — — 
			 Dwr Cymru 113.93 27.00 103.00 125.32 50.00 134.00 
			 Northumbrian (incl. Essex and Suffolk) — 26.40 — 76.47 60.00 134.00 
			 Northumbrian 78.95 — 104.00 — — — 
			 Essex and Suffolk — — 129.00 — — — 
			 Essex 87.95 — — — — — 
			 Suffolk 119.32 — — — — — 
			 Severn Trent 108.77 19.80 121.00 73.23 10.24 130.00 
			 South West 124.97 23.76 138.00 232.48 11.04 222.00 
			 Southern 76.00 24.57 108.00 119.70 43.95 170.00 
			 Thames 95.10 23.00 144.00 47.49 42.00 102.00 
			 United Utilities 112.60 25.00 135.00 91.40 71.00 157.00 
			 Wessex 128.76 17.00 132.00 124.26 34.00 144.00 
			 Yorkshire — — 120.00 101.37 32.55 128.00 
			 Yorkshire 102.00 24.05 — — — — 
			 York 57.10 21.21 — — —  
			
			  Water only companies   
			 Bournemouth and W Hampshire 87.57 21.00 121.00 — — — 
			 Bristol 93.45 29.00 125.00 — — — 
			 Cambridge 72.00 24.50 97.00 — — — 
			 Cholderton 103.00 23.00 149.00 — — — 
			 Dee Valley — 23.00 93.00 — — — 
			 Chester 73.91 — — — — — 
			 Wrexham 80.01 — — — — — 
			 Folkestone and Dover 112.68 25.56 152.00 — — — 
			 Mid Kent — — 132.00 — — — 
			 Standard 89.98 22.20 — — — — 
			 Low User 119.58 0.00 — — — — 
			 Helpu/medico 57.88 54.40 — — — — 
			 Portsmouth 53.10 23.00 82.00 — — — 
			 South East — 15.00 144.00 — — — 
			 Eastbourne 130.85 — — — — — 
			 Mid-Southern 74.41 — — — — — 
			 Mid-Sussex 136.74 — — — — — 
			 West Kent 109.29 — — — — — 
			 South Staffs 77.00 25.00 109.00 — — — 
			 Sutton and East Surrey — 23.00 114.00 — — — 
			 Northern Area 74.47 — — — — — 
			 Southern Area 96.52 — — — — — 
			 Tendring Hundred 148.13 23.40 149.00 — — — 
			 Three Valleys (incl. North Surrey) 80.60 24.80 134.00 — — — 
			 * Volumetric charges for water and sewerage are calculated per cubic metre, rather than on a per litre basis [one cubic metre = 1000 litres].

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Braille/Audio/Large Print Publications

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the provision of Braille books, newspapers and magazines in libraries in  (a) England,  (b) the North East,  (c) Tees Valley and  (d) Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency.

David Lammy: DCMS is working in conjunction with English local authority library services to recognise the position of those with sight problems. There is no ring-fenced core central Government funding for public libraries, but there is an expectation that a 'comprehensive and efficient' library service as set out in the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, will address the needs of visually impaired people. This includes the provision of alternative format materials.
	We are not aware of any published regional or local data regarding provision of Braille. While there are no holdings of Braille books at Middlesbrough borough council or Redcar and Cleveland borough council, both can quickly source Braille content from the National Library for the Blind on request. Both authorities offer alternatives to Braille such as Supernova, which enhance access to both mainstream on-line and printed content (via scanner). Middlesbrough also partner with "Action for the Blind" to obtain Braille content typically within 24 hours.

Circuses

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the impact of legislative reforms to the licensing regime on circuses  (a) prior to the introduction of the Licensing Bill to Parliament,  (b) during the passage of the Bill through Parliament and  (c) since the Licensing Act 2003 received Royal Assent.

Shaun Woodward: The Department has made no specific assessment of the impact of the legislative reforms to the licensing regime on circuses. We are currently monitoring and evaluating the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 nationally, but it is too early as yet to draw firm conclusions.
	My predecessor and the Department's officials have met the Association of Circus Proprietors of Great Britain and other circuses representatives, the Arts Council and Equity, on several occasions. We will continue to work with circuses in order to help them to maximise the benefits of the licensing reforms.

Drought Orders

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what discussions she has had with representatives of the tourism, hotel and conference industry in London and the South East on measures which could be taken to mitigate the effect on the industry if drought orders were to be introduced;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the likely impact of a drought order in the Thames Water region on the number of tourists coming through London and its airports;
	(3)  when she last met the Mayor of London to discuss the possible impact of drought orders on London's tourist, conference and hotel industries.

Shaun Woodward: VisitBritain and the UK tourism industry, including the Mayor of London who has responsibility for tourism in London, have strong and well rehearsed mechanisms in place for dealing with events which can impact on the visitor economy; my Department is closely involved in these arrangements.
	VisitBritain is consulting partners in London and the South East, such as the Tourism Alliance and Tourism South East, about the possible implications for the tourism industry of drought orders. The information and advice from this exercise will be discussed with the Secretary of State and myself as necessary. We see no need as yet for a meeting with the Mayor of London to discuss possible drought orders but will keep this, along with other potential actions, under review as circumstances demand.

Football

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 8 May 2006,  Official Report, column 48W, on football, how the 92 Premier and Football League Club Chairmen responded to the previous letters from the Minister for Sport.

Richard Caborn: In my previous letters to the 92 Premiership and Football League Chairmen I asked them to remind their players of the issue of fair play and of the responsibilities they have in being positive role models for the game.
	I was not expecting responses, but of the few that did respond, and in my ongoing conversations with the football club Chairmen, they have been broadly supportive of my views.

Gambling Act

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the Gambling Commission will issue its guidance on compliance and enforcement responsibilities in respect of the Gambling Act 2005.

Richard Caborn: The Gambling Commission is aiming to consult in the next few weeks on its arrangements for licensing, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005. It plans to publish its finalised guidance in the autumn 2006. Copies of the published guidance will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside her Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in her Department; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

David Lammy: My Department has fully outsourced IT so the figures given represent the total expenditure on information technology.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2001-02 22.8 
			 2002-03 32.8 
			 2003-04 42 
			 2004-05 55.6 
			 2005-06 64.6 
		
	
	Responsibility for information technology projects rests with the Department's CIO who has over 20 years experience of working in information technology.

Licensed Premises

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many licensed premises in  (a) Greater Manchester,  (b) Tameside metropolitan borough and (c) Stockport metropolitan borough have had renewal licences refused under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

Shaun Woodward: This information is not held centrally.

Licensing Act

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many  (a) public houses,  (b) convenience stores and  (c) off licences have had their licences revoked under the Licensing Act 2003 for (i) the sale of alcohol to people under 18 years of age and (ii) causing antisocial behaviour related to the sale of alcohol in each licensing authority area;
	(2)  how many reviews of alcohol licences have been requested by local residents under the Licensing Act 2003; and how many of these reviews have resulted in licences being revoked in  (a) public houses,  (b) convenience stores and  (c) off licences in each licensing authority area;
	(3)  how many  (a) public houses,  (b) convenience stores and  (c) off licences have had their licences revoked by the police under the Licensing Act 2003 in each licensing authority area;
	(4)  what the average fine issued to  (a) public houses,  (b) convenience stores and  (c) off licences under the Licensing Act 2003 has been to date to premises found guilty of selling alcohol to people under 18 years of age; and what the average fine was for this offence in each type of premises in each of the previous five years in each licensing authority area.

Shaun Woodward: This information is not held centrally.

Licensing Act

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many new licences have been issued under the Licensing Act 2003; and how many licences were issued for (a) public houses,  (b) convenience stores and  (c) off licences in each of the previous five years in each licensing authority area.

Shaun Woodward: Statistics concerning new licences issued under the Licensing Act 2003 (the 2003 Act), which came into force on 24 November 2005, are not available. However, the Department estimates that some 190,000 premises have been licensed under the 2003 Act, the majority of which are for the sale of alcohol.
	Data for the number of new licences issued in England and Wales under the Licensing Act 1964, which has now been replaced by the 2003 Act, were collected every three years and are available for a 12 month period to the 30 June 2004 as detailed in the following table:
	
		
			   Total licences issued  Total public houses  Total off-licensed premises 
			 30 June 2001 6,482 3,072 2,057 
			 30 June 2004 7,717 3,485 2,800 
			  Source:  DCMS Statistical Bulletin: Liquor Licensing: England and Wales, July 2003-June 2004, Table 5. 
		
	
	Separate data for convenience stores are not available.

Licensing Act

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when her Department will publish its first review of the guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.

Shaun Woodward: The guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 is being reviewed in two stages. Following the initial review, which covers issues where a broad consensus exists among stakeholders, it is expected that supplementary guidance will be laid before Parliament in June 2006.
	In parallel with this, a full review is being conducted, including a formal public consultation. As a result of this process, we expect to lay a revised version of the guidance before Parliament by the end of 2006.

Licensing Act

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many outlets in Greater London have been prosecuted under the Licensing Act 2003.

Shaun Woodward: This information is not held centrally.

Licensing Applications

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the Answer of28 November 2005,  Official Report, column 89W, on licensing applications, whether an event, a garden fete or function of a similar nature held solely to raise money for a charity or local church would be considered as 'not for private gain' and therefore be exempt from the requirement for a licence.

Shaun Woodward: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The provision of entertainment at a garden fete or similar event is not 'regulated entertainment' for the purposes of the Licensing Act 2003. Such an event would therefore be exempt from the requirement for a licence.
	However, this exemption does not apply if the fete or similar function is promoted with a view to applying some or all of its proceeds for the purposes of private gain.
	The provision of a benefit to one or more individuals is not regarded as being for private gain if made in the course of the activities of a non-commercial society established and conducted:  (a) for charitable purposes, or  (b) for the purpose of enabling participation in, or of supporting, sport, athletics or a cultural activity. In addition, no exemption from licensing would arise if the fete, event or similar function involved the sale or supply of alcohol.

London Olympics

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the different inflation rates were which were applied by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, referred to in the Minister for Sport's letter of 17 May 2006 to the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent, when raising its budget from £1.5 billion to £2 billion.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) budget reflects an average annual rate of inflation over the seven-year period from 2004 to 2011 of approximately 4 per cent.
	I am advised by LOCOG that they have used prudent but not excessive rates of inflation dependent upon the nature of the relevant costs. LOCOG has also taken into consideration the fact that the costs will be spent at different points in the lifecycle of the project.

National Heritage Memorial Fund

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the National Heritage Memorial Fund has spent on acquiring works of art for British museums in each of the last 10 years.

David Lammy: The National Heritage Memorial Fund has awarded the following amounts to British museums and galleries for acquisitions of works of art in each of the last 10 financial years:
	
		
			  Financial year  Value of awards (£) 
			 1996-97 396,625 
			 1997-98 733,000 
			 1998-99 9,342 
			 1999-2000 0 
			 2000-01 100,000 
			 2001-02 1,256,530 
			 2002-03 0 
			 2003-04 1,012,500 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 1,770,000 
			 Total 5,277,997

Portland PR

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what meetings officials in her Department have had with representatives of the public relations company Portland PR; what contracts Portland PR has with her Department and agencies for which she has responsibility; and what the nature of the contract is in each case.

David Lammy: DCMS has no contracts with Portland PR and the department does not maintain a central list of such meetings. Civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and business delivery. All such meetings are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Code and Guidance for civil servants on contacts with lobbyists and people outside Government.

Schools' Olympics

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many organisations applied to run the Schools' Olympics; and on what criteria the winner was selected.

Richard Caborn: The selection of an operator to organise the UK School Games this September was a matter for the Millennium Commission. In my other capacity as chair of the Commission, I will write to the hon. Member and arrange for copies of my reply to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Temporary Event Notices

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will place in the Library a copy of the summary of responses tothe consultation on temporary event notices; and if she will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: We shall soon be announcing the results of our review of temporary events notices (TENs) and consideration of responses to the associated consultation. Shortly thereafter, we shall place a copy of those responses on the Department's website (www.culture.gov.uk). Where an individual has written on his or her own behalf, and not in the course of representing an organisation, we will have redacted any personal details such as the name and address.

The Public

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what date the Arts Council commissioned the options appraisal of the arts organisation 'The Public'; and what its remit was.

David Lammy: The options appraisal was commissioned on 2 February 2006. The remit of the options appraisal was to assist the Arts Council to understand: the immediate cash flow requirements of the charity; the possible funding requirement of 'The Public' on opening; the likely further funding required, in addition to that already agreed, to achieve completion of the building; whether there are any viable options which may involve less funding; the impact of the group entering into an insolvency process and the impact on the Arts Council of any such insolvency process; and the current position of the remainder of the charity's activities.

World Cup

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans  (a) she and  (b) Ministers in her Department have to attend matches at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Richard Caborn: Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I will be attending a number of games during the 2006 World Cup finals being held in Germany this summer.
	All travel by DCMS Ministers will be arranged in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Animal Experiments

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his plans to protect the names and addresses of shareholders will apply only to companies which carry out animal experiments.

Ian McCartney: No: the members of all companies will be protected by the provision in the Company Law Reform Bill that a company need not comply with a request for a copy of its register of members if the court is satisfied that it is not sought for a proper purpose. The Government amendments to the Bill to strengthen further this protection, which were tabled on 18 May, also apply to all companies.

Bank Fees

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action his Department is taking to encourage banks to reduce late payment fees and other charges following the recent ruling from the Office of Fair Trading; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) statement relates to the principles they think credit card issuers should follow in order to set fair default charges. The issuers are being asked to confirm by31 May their response to this statement and their willingness to make any necessary adjustments to their credit card default charges. They are also being asked to consider how these principles may be applicable in other related areas, including the way default charges are applied to current accounts. The OFT has indicated that it has not ruled out future legal action if the market does not respond positively and it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage.

Consumer Protection

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the operation of section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974; what recent representations he has received about the operation of this  (a) section and  (b) Act; and what amendments have been made to the Act.

Ian McCartney: Section 75 of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act has the effect that where a purchase for an amount over £100 and not more than £30,000 has been funded by a credit card, the purchaser will have the same rights in respect of a breach of contract or misrepresentation against the credit card company, as he would have against the supplier himself.
	One area of section 75 around which there has been a degree of uncertainty relates to overseas transactions (i.e. where a credit card is used to buy something abroad). The Office of Fair Trading sought to resolve this issue by way of a Court declaration. The case reached its conclusion on 22 March 2006, when the Court of Appeal ruled that section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 does apply to overseas transactions, as well as to domestic ones.
	Before this ruling and during the passage of the Consumer Credit Bill (now the Consumer Credit Act 2006), Baroness Miller of Hendon tabled an amendment to try and clarify the issue of overseas application of section 75. The Government resisted Baroness Miller's amendment on the grounds that the issue was the subject of an ongoing case at the Court of Appeal, and that it would be inappropriate to amend section 75 before that case had reached its conclusion.
	The subsequent Court ruling of 22 March is, the Government believe, a good outcome for consumers and they have no plans at present to make changes to section 75 of the 1974 Act.
	More generally, as the 2006 Act is brought into force, they will make a number of significant changes to the 1974 Act. In particular:
	 (a) Improving consumer rights and redress:
	by replacing the extortionate credit test (in the 1974 Act) with a new, broader test concerned with the principle of 'unfairness';
	 (b) Improving the regulation of consumer credit businesses:
	by altering the powers of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to enable it to take targeted action to drive out rogues, and by requiring minimum standards of information provision to consumers throughout the life of the loan; and
	 (c) More appropriate regulation of consumer credit agreements:
	by abolishing the £25,000 limit for regulation and making the rules concerning enforceability consistent and proportionate.

Correspondence

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will provide a substantive response to question 64806, tabled by the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight on 18 April, on telephone numbers.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 11 May 2006
	I answered the hon. Member's question on 12 May 2006,  Official Report, column 542W, by transferring it to the chief executive of Ofcom and I understand that Ofcom should now be replying substantively in about 10 working days.

Entrepreneurs

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures his Department plans to take to encourage more  (a) women and  (b) people from ethnic minorities to become business entrepreneurs.

Margaret Hodge: Levels of women's enterprise are increasing. The number of self-employed women in the UK has risen from 915,000 in 1997 to 1,022,000 in 2006. This is the highest figure since records began in 1984. But we still have further to go to match levels of women's enterprise in some comparator nations, such as the USA. That is why, from June this year, we will have a taskforce on women's enterprise to encourage the development of women's enterprise working with the development agencies and other partners. Regional development agencies, including the North East, are piloting women's enterprise units to trial different approaches to supporting the start-up and growth of women-owned businesses.
	We are also making some progress in reducing differences in self-employment rates between different ethnic groups. The gap in self-employment rates between under-represented groups and others in England has come down from4 percentage points for the year ending spring 2005 to 3.4 percentage points for the year ending winter 2005. In the last four years, the number of self-employed people of working age from under-represented groups has increased from around 80,000 to 120,000 in England. The Department and the small business service are working with colleagues across Whitehall to help deliver the recommendations on enterprise made by the national employment panel in their 2005 report 'Enterprising People, Enterprising Places'.
	This includes working with the learning and skills council on the development of centres of vocational excellence in entrepreneurship in five designated cities (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford and Leicester) and working with banks and financial intermediaries to review the availability and accessibility of finance for ethnic minority firms in those designated cities.
	The small business service also supports a detailed programme of activity led by the ethnic minority business forum to promote enterprise amongst ethnic minority groups. Key actions include:
	drawing up a three-year action plan and following this with a national conference to promote ethnic minority enterprise;
	promoting and developing regional engagement through a series of regional networking meetings;
	developing an online community to encourage continued dialogue with stakeholders;
	ensuring that initiatives to facilitate access to public sector procurement markets meet the needs of ethnic minority businesses through the work on the recently launched web portal for lower value opportunities, and the development of training for small and medium enterprises in selling to the public sector.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated into the biological effects of myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department supports medical and clinical research through the Medical Research Council (MRC). In May 2003, the MRC invited research proposals on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) covering basic research through to more applied health services research and interventions; the invitation can be found at: http: www.mrc.ac.uk/strategy-chronic_fatigue_ syndrome_me.htm.
	The MRC has funded seven research studies into CFS/ME as follows:
	
		
			  University/institute  Project title 
			 University of Manchester The role of noradrenalin in the neuropsychological pathogenesis of the chronic fatigue syndrome 
			   
			 University of Manchester Randomised control trial of nurse led self-help treatment for primary care patients with chronic fatigue syndrome 
			   
			 University of Manchester The feasibility of a population base study of CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), and CWP (chronic wide pain) 
			   
			 Queen Mary and Westfield College Chronic fatigue and ethnicity 
			   
			 Queen Mary and Westfield College The PACE Trial: A RCT (randomised control trial) of CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy), graded exercise, adaptive pacing and usual medical care for the chronic fatigue syndrome 
			   
			 University of Liverpool Exploratory RCT of training GPs to manage patients with persistent medically unexplained symptoms 
			   
			 University of Edinburgh A complex intervention for patients with medically unexplained symptoms in neurology clinics

Parcelforce

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of Government funding announced on 18 May for the Royal Mail will be made available for Parcelforce activities; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: No proportion of these facilities has been set aside for Parcelforce.

Pensioner Debt

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the level of personal debt among pensioners; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ease the burden of debt experienced by pensioners; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will introduce a scheme to relieve pensioners of personal debt; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: We are doing much to help those with personal debt problems as outlined in the Government's 2004 "Tackling Over-indebtedness: Action Plan" and the subsequent 2005 annual report. DTI examples include the recently launched £45 million Face-to-Face Debt Advice Project, that will result in hundreds of new debt advisers and the multi-million pound support given to the National Debtline phone service. Such assistance is open to all and we much welcome the use of them by vulnerable pensioners.
	Overall, the Government's strategy for older people is focused on tackling poverty in old age. The measures include: pension credit which targets help to the poorest pensioners; the state second pension which will provide a more generous additional provision for people on low and moderate earnings; and one-off payments for eligible pensioners to help ensure financial security in retirement and reduce the risk of falling into problem debt.
	Priorities for the Government's strategy for older people in 2006-07 include maximising take-up activity to ensure that those entitled to pension credit receive it and increasing take-up of the state second pension, including among carers and the long-term disabled, and the 200 winter fuel payments.

Post Office Branch Network

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's long-term policy is on the Post Office branch network, with particular reference to rural areas.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government are committed to supporting the rural post office network with annual social network payments of £150 million for the next two years. The level of any support beyond 2008 will depend, following public consultation, on decisions on the future of the post office network.

Royal Mail

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of part-employee share ownership in respect of Royal Mail.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government are considering Royal Mail management's proposals for the incentivisation of its workforce through an employee shares scheme. No decisions have been taken on these proposals.

Royal Mail

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of options for the long-term ownership structure for the Royal Mail.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government have made it clear that they will not privatise Royal Mail.

Royal Mail

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the rate of return the Government will receive on its loan to the Royal Mail.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The details of the arrangements for the extension of the debt facilities have yet to be decided. The rate of return on the utilisation of the facilities will be set on a commercial basis.

Royal Mail

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria were used in deciding to support the Royal Mail in respect of its pension fund deficit.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government, as shareholder, considered Royal Mail's investment case on a commercial basis. Under the Government's proposed financial framework, no funds are paid directly into the pension fund. The Government intend to release £850 million of reserves that Royal Mail has built up through past profitable performance so those funds can be transferred to a special account, the pension escrow account, upon which the pension fund trustees could draw, in the unlikely event that Royal Mail should fail as a business. When the pension fund deficit has been recovered and Royal Mail's balance sheet strengthened by successful operation, it is expected that the escrow fund will be released and surplus cash returned to the Government as shareholder. This arrangement provides confidence to pensioners and a sustainable financial framework for Royal Mail.

Small Business Friendly Concordat

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many local authorities have signed up to the Small Business Friendly Concordat; what steps are being taken by the Government to encourage local authorities to do so; and what target he has set for take up by local authorities of the Concordat.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	Records maintained by the Small Business Service (SBS) suggest that presently 63 local authorities in England have formally signed up to the Small Business Friendly Concordat (March 2004).
	The "National Procurement Strategy for Local Government" includes a milestone for all local authorities to have adopted the Concordat by the end of 2005. The Government recognise that small businesses can provide best value in procurement and that is why they are keen to continue encouraging adoption of the Concordat throughout local government.
	ODPM has written to local authorities on two occasions encouraging sign-up to the Concordat. In conjunction with key partners the ODPM is exploring further ways to promote the Concordat to local authorities.

Sunday Trading

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his Department's expenditure has been on research into the  (a) economic and  (b) social implications of the easing or removing of Sunday trading restrictions.

Ian McCartney: DTI appointed Indepen Consulting Ltd to produce an economic cost-benefit analysis of easing the restrictions on Sunday shopping. The cost was around £60,000. We published Indepen's report on 5 May on the DTI website:
	www.dti.gov.uk/consmners/buying-selling/Sunday% 20Shopping.

Sunday Trading

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will organise and fund a conference to discuss the social costs and benefits of easing or removing Sunday trading restrictions.

Ian McCartney: There are no current plans to organise and fund a conference to discuss the social costs and benefits of easing or removing Sunday trading restrictions.
	From 13 January to 14 April, as part of the review of Sunday shop opening hours, we asked for views and evidence from consumers, religious groups, employees and businesses not only on the economic case, but on all aspects of extending Sunday shopping hours. We have received a large number of responses and are currently analysing them.
	On 5 May, we published an independent economic cost-benefit analysis, commissioned by DTI. On 10 May, DTI held a stakeholder conference where the independent consultants presented the cost-benefit analysis and participants were able to discuss the assumptions and findings. This was followed by optional forums on specific themes; one of the themes was the impact on society of extended Sunday shopping hours. We intend to publish a report of this event on our website shortly.

Sunday Trading

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2006,  Official Report, column 1129W, on Sunday trading, what plans he has to commission research into the social effects of easing or removing Sunday trading restrictions.

Ian McCartney: There are no current plans to commission research into the social effects of easing or removing Sunday trading restrictions.
	From 13 January to 14 April, as part of the review of Sunday shop opening hours, we asked for views and evidence from consumers, religious groups, employees and businesses not only on the economic case, but on all aspects of extending Sunday shopping hours. We have received a large number of responses and are currently analysing them.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Convicting Rapists and Protecting Victims (Consultation Paper)

Barbara Follett: To ask the Solicitor-General what responses he has received to his Department's consultation paper "Convicting Rapists and Protecting Victims".

Mike O'Brien: The consultation period runs until 31 July 2006 and we normally expect responses towards the end of the period. Nonetheless I have already received three responses and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform has received six responses. Seven of these have come from individuals and two from organisations.

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Solicitor-General on how many occasions  (a) civil servants and  (b) special advisors in his Department have stayed overnight in (i) five star, (ii) four star and (iii) three star hotels in each of the last three years.

Mike O'Brien: The Law Officers' Departments had no special advisers in the period in question. The information on hotel star ratings is not recorded centrally by the Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office, Treasury Solicitor's Department, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Attorney General's Office and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office was able to obtain the following information for 2005-06 since it was set up on 18 April 2005:
	
		
			  Rating  Nights 
			 5 2 
			 4 63 
			 3 43

Serious Fraud Office

John Robertson: To ask the Solicitor-General what assessment he has made of the likely trends in the number of cases demanding the attention of the Serious Fraud Office over the next three years.

Mike O'Brien: Between 2001 and 2005 the SFO had 223 cases referred to it and it has so far accepted 82 of these cases. The remaining cases are mostly referred to other agencies.
	From 2001 to 2005 the SFO has seen a considerable increase in case referrals and it does not anticipate that this trend will change. Moreover the cases that the SFO sees are growing in complexity and are commonly linked to international financial markets.
	It is not possible to provide accurate data for the future as this depends on the number of frauds, their nature and their referral to the SFO.

Treasury Solicitor Annual Report

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General how many copies of the Treasury Solicitor Annual Report 2003-04 were distributed by his Department; if he will list those who were sent copies; how many copies were printed; what the cost was of  (a) distribution and  (b) printing; who was awarded the contract to undertake the printing; how (i) hon. Members, (ii) Members of the House of Lords and (iii) members of the public may obtain a copy; at what cost; when he expects to publish the 2004-05 edition; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: 550 copies of the Treasury Solicitor's Annual Report and Accounts 2003-04 were printed at a total cost for design, print and distribution of £10,038. The Central Office of Information printed the Reports. Copies were laid before Parliament (HC 1012). They were also distributed across the Attorney General's Departments but no record was kept of the distribution. 300 copies were supplied to the Stationery Office for public purchase (ISBN 0102930023) at £15.10 each. A copy is also available electronically on the TSol website (www.tsol.gov.uk).
	The 2004-05 Treasury Solicitor's edition was published and laid before Parliament on 21 July 2005 (HC 274) and is similarly available at the Stationery Office (ISBN 010293438X) at £16.25 or on the TSol website. The 2005-06 edition is scheduled to be published and laid before Parliament on 20 July 2006.

WALES

Bills

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the occasions when an amendment has been moved by  (a) a Labour Back Bencher,  (b) an Opposition Back Bencher and  (c) an Opposition Front-Bench spokesman to a Bill sponsored by his Department that has been accepted by his Department during the 2005-06 session; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office has sponsored the following Bills during the current session: Government of Wales Bill 2005, Transport (Wales) Bill and the Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill.
	Information on amendments moved and accepted during the Committee, Report and Lords Third Reading stages on these Bills is published in the  Official Report.

Consultations

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last year for which figures are available; and what the cost was  (a) in total and  (b) of each consultation.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office undertook one public consultation last year on the "Better Governance for Wales" White Paper. The cost of this was £23,462.54. We also contributed to a joint consultation with the Department of Health seeking views on banning smoking in enclosed public places, and to a joint consultation with the National Assembly for Wales on the Commissioner for Old People.

Departmental Credit Cards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what facility is available for senior civil servants in his Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office has not issued any credit cards to senior civil servants.

Departmental Expenditure

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from his Department in each of the last five years.

Peter Hain: Expenditure records are not kept in this format, and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Disability Access

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether any building in his Department falls short of disability access regulations.

Peter Hain: No.

Free Air Miles

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many free air miles have been earned by senior civil servants in his Department in each of the last three years; and how they were used.

Peter Hain: None.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Department; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Peter Hain: The National Assembly of Wales provided information technology support service functions to the Wales Office until 31 March 2004, and the Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has provided these services since then. Accordingly the Assembly were responsible for sourcing and awarding any contracts up to March 2004 and the DCA has done so since then. In the last financial year the Wales Office spent £176,161.40 on IT services provided via DCA.
	Expenditure records before this time are not kept in this format, and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the  (a) originally estimated,  (b) most recently estimated and  (c) outturn cost was in each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed with outside suppliers over the last five years.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office has not let any information technology contracts in the last five years. We are covered by contracts let by the Department of Constitutional Affairs.

Ministerial Visits

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what visits he has made to each of the prisons in Wales; and when each visit took place.

Peter Hain: I have not visited any prisons in my capacity as Secretary of State for Wales. Responsibility for prisons in England and Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

Private Members' Bills

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those private Members' Bills in respect of which his Department has adopted a policy of neutrality in each session since 2001-02; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office does not collect the relevant information and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Small Change Big Difference

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps his Department has taken following the launch of the Government's "small change big difference" campaign.

Peter Hain: Responsibility for delivering health policy in Wales has been devolved to the National Assembly for Wales. The Welsh Assembly Government have in place the 'health challenge Wales' campaign—a call to people and organisations to work together for a healthier nation. Further information is available on the Welsh Assembly Government's website at:
	http://new.wales.gov.uk

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Complaints (Solicitors)

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans she has to improve the process of handling complaints against solicitors.

Bridget Prentice: On 24 May, the Government published their draft Legal Services Bill. The draft Bill provides for the establishment of a Legal Services Board (LSB), which will provide consistent oversight of the legal profession's front line regulators. The draft Bill also provides for the establishment of an office for legal complaints (OLC) that will provide a single and fully independent body for dealing with all consumer complaints about legal service providers who are members of bodies or organisations that are regulated by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The OLC will, therefore, replace the existing complaints handling bodies, such as the Law Society's Consumer Complaints Services.
	The OLC will be accountable to the LSB, which will also set targets for the OLC.
	The draft Bill will be receiving pre-legislative scrutiny by Joint Committee.

Departmental Responsibilities

Andrew Turner: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list responsibilities which her Department and its predecessors have lost since 1997; what the  (a) date and  (b) destination Department was in each case; what responsibilities the Department and its predecessors have taken on since 1997; and what the (i) date and (ii) source Department was in each case.

Bridget Prentice: Ministerial responsibilities are set out in the "List of Ministerial Responsibilities", which is updated regularly. A revised version will be published shortly. Copies of previous versions are available in the Library.

Small Claims Limit

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the timetable is for the consultation on alternative options for dealing with the small claims limit.

Vera Baird: The Government are currently working with stakeholders to make the claims process more timely, proportionate, and cost-effective. We plan to publish a consultation paper on any proposals which emerge, but no date for this has been set.

SCOTLAND

Bills

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the occasions when an amendment has been moved by  (a) a Labour backbencher,  (b) an Opposition backbencher and  (c) an Opposition front bench spokesman to a Bill sponsored by his Department which has been accepted by his Department during the 2005-06 Session; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office has not sponsored any legislation in the current Session.

Departmental Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those  (a) Acts and  (b) parts of Acts which received Royal Assent between 1976 and 2006 for which his Department has policy responsibility and which remain in force.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office has policy responsibility for the Scotland Act 1998 and the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004, both of which remain in force.

Scotland Act

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the Government plans to transfer additional functions to Scottish Ministers under section 63 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Douglas Alexander: The Government and the Scottish Executive have no immediate plans for any transfers under section 63 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Scottish Parliament

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the First Minister of Scotland on proposals for the establishment of a second Scottish Constitutional Convention to review the powers of the Scottish Parliament;
	(2)  whether he has discussed the recommendations of the Steel Commission report, Moving to Federalism—A New Settlement for Scotland, with the First Minister of Scotland.

Douglas Alexander: I have frequent discussions with the First Minister on a wide range of issues.

Small Change Big Difference

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department has taken following the launch of the Government's "small change big difference campaign".

David Cairns: The statutory functions of the Scotland Office relate to constitutional matters arising from the devolution settlement for Scotland and the conduct of elections to the Scottish Parliament. The focus of the 'small change big difference' campaign is the encouragement of healthier lifestyles which is primarily a devolved matter for the Scottish Executive to determine.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan (Women)

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of women's rights in Afghanistan; and what steps are being taken to further the empowerment of women in Afghanistan in accordance with Millennium Development Goal 3, to promote gender equality and empower women.

Hilary Benn: The current status of women's rights indicates that Afghanistan will not meet the Millennium Development Goal targets by 2015. Raising awareness of the existing gender bias and discrimination is important if things are going to change. The Afghan Government have demonstrated its commitment to ensuring equality between men and women by signing the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and by protecting women's rights within the new Afghan constitution.
	In March 2006, the Afghan Government set out its strategy for greater gender equality in its first Interim National Action Plan for the Women. The UK is supporting this through our contributions to the Afghan Reconstruction Fund (£140 million over three years) which help pay the Government's recurrent costs as well as fund their own development priorities.
	DFID also supports a number of specific development programmes which support the role of women in Afghan society. At the national level we provided significant support to the election process in 2005 and have worked with the Government to strengthen the role of women in the democratic process. The Parliamentary and Provincial elections had a strong turn-out of women voters (43 per cent. of voters were women).
	DFID's support to the Government's National Priority Programmes includes support to enhancing the role of women at a community level including the National Solidarity Programme which ensures that women are engaged in determining community development priorities through the formation of Community Development Councils. DFID is also supporting the Government's National Micro-finance Programme, which provides access to credit and savings services to over 140,000 clients, 60 per cent. Of whom are women.

Cayman Islands

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he expects to receive from the EU the recovery grant of €7.4 million for the Cayman Islands for the purposes of defraying some of the costs of repair following the damage done by Hurricane Ivan.

Gareth Thomas: The European Commission has proposed an allocation of €3.7 million for post-Hurricane Ivan rehabilitation aid for the Cayman Islands. We hope that remaining procedures will be completed speedily and the funds disbursed in the near future.
	We are following up with the Commission on the details of this decision and exploring the options open to the Cayman Islands to have their original request of €7 million reconsidered.

Departmental Bills (Amendments)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the occasions when an amendment has been moved by  (a) a Labour backbencher,  (b) an Opposition backbencher and  (c) an Opposition front bench spokesman to a Bill sponsored by his Department that has been accepted by his Department during the current session; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID has not sponsored any legislation during the current session.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff from his Department attended the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-Ul-Adha event in London in 2005; and what the total cost was to his Department of their attendance.

Gareth Thomas: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will write to the hon. Member with details of the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-Ul-Adha event. Copies of her letter will be placed in the Library.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what incentives his Department offers to encourage staff to share vehicles when travelling to work.

Gareth Thomas: DFID is strongly committed to the travel targets set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. We operate a car sharing scheme for our East Kilbride office on our internal website and we have also included links to similar schemes available on external websites. We also maintain updated bus and train timetables on our internal website and actively encourage staff to use public transport through regular notices, permanent displays of maps and guides, and promotion of events such as Bike Week 2006. We have no car parking spaces for staff in our London offices, but over 70 secure bicycle parking spaces, with storage and shower facilities.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Department; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Gareth Thomas: DFID's central records do not distinguish IT purchases, so provision of spending information for these purchases would incur disproportionate costs. DFID procurement conforms to guidance from the Office of Government Commerce, and purchases are approved by a number of officials with delegated authority. All major IT purchases are reviewed by the Head of Information Systems, who has a mathematics degree and more than 25 years' experience of working in IT, including16 years in a managerial role.

Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list those  (a) Acts and  (b) parts of Acts which received Royal Assent between 1976 and 2006 and for which his Department has policy responsibility which remain in force.

Hilary Benn: DFID has policy responsibility for the Commonwealth Development Corporation Act (1978), the Crown Agents Act (1995), the Commonwealth Development Corporation Act (1999) and the International Development Act (2002).

Small Change Big Difference

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department and its agencies have taken following the launch of the Government's "small change big difference" campaign.

Gareth Thomas: DFID has embraced the "small change big difference" campaign in many ways by encouraging its staff to improve their future health and well-being by making small, easily achievable changes to their lifestyle. The Department supports these changes by ensuring that our staff restaurants offer nutritious food, using fresh produce and offering "healthy options" wherever possible.
	DFID encourages its staff to take control of their health and lives and to achieve a healthy work-life balance. The Department offers its staff flexible work patterns and provides a website that provides information and advice on how to deal with everyday issues such as bereavement, stress, nutrition, smoking and drinking.
	Our well-being centres offer gym facilities to encourage staff to improve their health and well-being through physical activity. We also have secure bicycle parking spaces for staff who cycle to work, with storage and shower facilities.
	As the programme of work develops, the Department of Health (DOH) will be working across all of Government to ensure the programme joins up to promote maximum impact. The DOH is leading the implementation for this initiative as part of its cross-government commitment to deliver the public health White Paper "Choosing Health".

TRANSPORT

Air Travel

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of changes in the demography of air passengers in the UK within the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The last formal assessment undertaken was for the Air Transport White Paper in December 2003. The Department keeps these matters under review through regular surveys (eg CAA Airport Passenger Survey, British Social Attitudes Survey, International Passenger Survey and ONS Omnibus Survey).
	As part of the analysis leading up to the Air Transport White Paper (ATWP), the Department carried out a formal assessment of the public "Attitudes to Air Travel", by population characteristics, using data from February 2002 ONS Omnibus Survey which can be found on the DfT Website.
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/qroups/dft_transstats/documents/page/dft_transstats_505963.hcsp
	Another supporting paper to the ATWP "Passenger Forecasts: Additional Analysis" reported differences between countries and regions within the UK in the propensity to fly, ie the relationship between the number of passengers and the general population. This can be found on the DfT website.
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/qroups/dft_aviation/documents/page/dft_aviation_031861.pdf

Airbus A380

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  which Ministers were present for the arrival of the Airbus A380 at Heathrow Airport on 18 May;
	(2)  what departmental costs were incurred in transporting officials and Ministers to the arrival of the Airbus A380 at Heathrow Airport on 18 May.

Gillian Merron: The total cost incurred by the Department in transporting officials to the arrival of the Airbus A380 at Heathrow Airport on 18 May was £55. No Ministers from the Department were present, but my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer attended.

Aircraft Emissions

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the flights taken by Ministers in his Department since 2001; and what measures to offset the carbon emissions were taken for each flight.

Gillian Merron: Information about flights undertaken by Ministers in the Department for Transport on official business since its formation on 29 May 2002 has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the 'Ministerial Code' and 'Travel by Ministers', copies of which are available in the Library. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500. Copies of the lists are available in the Library. Information for 2005-06 is currently being compiled and will be published when it is ready.
	All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions will be calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund will purchase certified emissions reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with high sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.
	Carbon dioxide emissions arising from 32 (Royal) Squadron flights are included in the Government's carbon offsetting commitment. Carbon emissions arising from the use of these flights will be recorded and offset in the same way as those for scheduled flights.

Buses

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action his Department is taking to ensure bus fares do not rise faster than the cost of motoring.

Gillian Merron: The Government are very concerned about the growing divergence between the cost of public transport and private motoring which is largely due to market forces. The rise in bus fares mostly reflects the increased costs of labour, fuel and insurance to bus operators. These costs need to be met either through fare increases or subsidy. The Department makes it clear in its dealings with the bus industry that affordable fares are a crucial factor in promoting patronage growth and accessibility of services.
	The Government provide support for local bus services in the form of Bus Service Operators Grant, worth over £370 million annually to the industry. This grant reduces operating costs and therefore helps to minimise fares.
	In addition, the Government have introduced free concessionary bus travel for over-60s and disabled people and made available an additional £350 million to local authorities to reimburse to operators the revenue foregone. As from 1 April 2008, holders of concessionary passes will be eligible for free local bus travel in any part of the country.
	We are working up arrangements to develop new ways in which local authorities and operators can plan bus networks together by mutual agreement and consistently with competition law. This could include agreement on bus fares and ticketing.

Buses

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with bus companies about the impact of above-inflation increases in bus fares on socially excluded communities.

Gillian Merron: Transport Ministers regularly have meetings with bus companies and discuss a variety of matters with them. It is made clear at these meetings that affordable fares are seen as a crucial factor in promoting patronage growth and accessibility of services.

Buses

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has undertaken into the effects of above-inflation increases in bus fares on socially excluded communities.

Gillian Merron: No research has been undertaken by the Department specifically on the effect of high bus fares on socially excluded communities. However, we know from other social exclusion research that the affordability of public transport can be an issue for these communities. Relevant reports include:
	"Social Exclusion and the Provision & Availability of Public Transport" (DTLR, 2000).
	"Making the Connections: Final Report on Transport and Social Exclusion" (Social Exclusion Unit, 2003).

Buses

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider the extension of the free transport concession for those over 60 years in the West Yorkshire metro district for bus travel to include rail travel.

Gillian Merron: The Department has no plans to extend the statutory entitlement to concessionary travel to include rail services.

Buses

Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the extension nationwide of the free bus travel scheme for older and disabled people will be funded.

Gillian Merron: The Chancellor announced that up to £250 million in additional government funding would be made available for providing a national concessionary travel scheme from April 2008. We are currently looking at the options for delivering the national scheme and will consult with stakeholders including local authorities and bus operators in due course.

Calypso

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what safety deficiencies were identified when the Calypso was inspected at Tilbury in May; and why the ship was not detained at the docks on grounds of safety.

Stephen Ladyman: The passenger ship the Calypso was inspected in Tilbury under Port State Control on 5 May 2006. The ship was attended by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) surveyors, London Port Health and a radio inspector. A full inspection and satisfactory safety drill was carried out. A total of 13 deficiencies were found and the nature of these deficiencies was not considered serious enough to warrant detention of the ship.

Departmental Bills (Amendments)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the occasions when an amendment has been moved by  (a) a Labour back bencher,  (b) Opposition back bencher and  (c) Opposition front bench spokesman to a Bill sponsored by his Department which has been accepted by his Department during the 2005-06 Session; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport has sponsored the following Bills during the current session: Crossrail (Hybrid) Bill, Merchant Shipping Pollution Act [ Lords], Road Safety Bill [ Lords] and the Civil Aviation Bill. Information on amendments moved and accepted during the committee and report stages on these Bills is published in the  Official Report.

Departmental Budget

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much of the budget for his Department remained unspent in the 2005-06 financial year.

Gillian Merron: 2005-06 estimated outturn was published in the Department for Transport Annual Report 2006 (Cm 6817). Provisional outturn against final departmental expenditure limits will be published before the summer recess, in July.

Departmental Funding (Halifax)

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding for which his Department is responsible has been allocated to the Halifax constituency in the past 12 months.

Gillian Merron: The Department allocates funding to support local transport to Calderdale borough council and West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority/Executive, which both cover the constituency. The local transport capital funding allocations that the Department announced in December 2004 for 2005-06 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Nature of funding  Calderdale  West Yorkshire PTA 
			 Highways capital maintenance 3.639 0 
			 Integrated transport improvements 2.337 8.442 
			 Total 5.976 8.442 
		
	
	West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive received in the past 12 months a Rural Bus Subsidy Grant of £1.019 million of which £139,518 has been spent on bus services in Calderdale.
	With regards to funding for rail and trunk roads, it is not possible to allocate funding to a specific constituency.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people in his Departmenthave been  (a) disciplined and  (b) dismissed for (i) inappropriate use of the internet while at work and (ii) using work telephones to access premium rate numbers in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport was established in May 2002.
	
		
			  Number of people disciplined or dismissed for inappropriate use of the internet at work in the Department for Transport 
			   Disciplined  Dismissed 
			 2002 0 2 
			 2003 1 2 
			 2004 13 2 
			 2005 2 0 
			 2006 0 1 
		
	
	For using work telephones to access premium rate numbers one member of staff was disciplined in 2003, one in 2004 and one in 2005.
	Regular reminders are issued to staff about their responsibility to not misuse the telephone, e-mail and internet systems. In order to ensure that these are not abused, or that the Department's security is not compromised, telephone, e-mails and internet use may be monitored periodically.
	The Department's Staff Handbook establishes that staff must not make inappropriate use of official time including use of telephones and computer-related services. Such inappropriate use may constitute a disciplinary offence. There is also a separate policy on the use of the internet.
	Staff are encouraged to regularly review these items to ensure they are complying with their responsibilities.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) EU foreign nationals and  (b) non-EU foreign nationals have been employed in his Department in each of the last five years; what vetting procedures are in place for each category of staff; and whether these include liaison with foreign law enforcement agencies.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport does not hold information on EU foreign nationals, and non-EU foreign nationals centrally.
	The Department's procedures for security vetting comply with the policy set out to Parliament by the then Prime Minister on 15 December 1994, which came into force on 1 January 1995. All staff who require security clearance for their posts in the Department are subject to this policy, regardless of their nationality.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of his staff in each of the last three years; and what the total cost was.

Gillian Merron: The number and cost of non-pensionable bonuses awarded to Department for Transport staff (including all of its agencies) for each of the last three years was as follows:
	
		
			   Number of bonuses  Cost of bonuses (£000) 
			 2003-04 2,949 1,229 
			 2004-05 3,419 1,500 
			 2005-06 5,918 2,165

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff from his Department attended the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-UI-Adha event in London in 2005; and what the total cost was to his Department of their attendance.

Gillian Merron: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will write to the hon. Member with details of the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-UI-Adha event. Copies of her letter will be placed in the Library.

Leased Land

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what  (a) land and  (b) property his Department and its predecessors (i) leases and (ii) leased in (A) Southend West constituency, (B) Essex, (C) Hertfordshire and (D) the metropolitan police area of London in (1) 1979, (2) 1983, (3) 1987, (4) 1992 and (5) 1997.

Gillian Merron: The Department leases 46 properties in the areas mentioned above and detailed information has been placed in the Library of the House. The Department does not lease land. The Department was formed in 2002 and information for the period prior to this date can be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to review the effectiveness of safety inspections carried out by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The UK attaches the highest priority to maritime safety. We are committed to promoting safer shipping and to minimising the incidence of accidents at sea.
	MCA surveyors carry out flag state inspections of UK ships, and Port State Control inspections of foreign flag ships calling at UK ports. They are respected and recognised internationally for their commitment to provide a professional and high quality service.
	Standards on UK ships are maintained at a high level. The UK is near the top of the Paris MoU's Port State Control white list and our vessels were less likely to be detained in Paris MOU Ports in the last three years than those of all but two other flags.
	The UK's performance as port state was reviewed this year in an independent European Maritime Safety Agency Audit. The audit found that our Port State Control organisation (MCA) had good management, well developed structure and experienced and committed personnel. It also noted that we have developed
	"a remarkable quality conscious culture which stimulates and provides opportunities for improvement of performance".
	There is no need for a further review.

Ministerial Cars (Cleaning)

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he has issued on the cleaning of Ministers' cars in circumstances of  (a) a hosepipe ban and  (b) a drought order in the Thames Water region.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) introduced restrictions on the cleaning of ministerial cars on 3 April 2006. If a hosepipe ban or drought order is introduced GCDA will comply fully with their conditions.

Nuclear Rail Freight

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the  (a) safety and  (b) security of trains transporting nuclear material; and with whom responsibility lies for providing the risk assessment for such trains.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) The regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material require that periodic assessments of the radiological impact of the transport of radioactive material are carried out. This Department has carried out surveys which show that the radiation doses from the transport of radioactive material under both normal and abnormal conditions are low.
	The latest reports that include rail transport are: Survey into the Radiological Impact of the Normal Transport of Radioactive Material in the UK byRoad and Rail (NRPB-W66) and Radiological Consequences Resulting from Accidents and Incidents Involving the Transport of Radioactive Materials in the UK 2004 Review (HPA-RPD-007). Copies of these reports have been placed in the House Library and are also available on the internet at the following websites:
	http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/w_series reports/2005/nrpb_w66.htm
	http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/hpa_rpd_reports/2005/hpa_rpd_007.htm
	 (b) The security of nuclear transport is a matter for the Department of Trade and Industry. The transportation of spent nuclear fuel by rail is carried out in a secure manner and in accordance with stringent security regulations: the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003. These regulations are administered and enforced by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), who regulate the security of such movements of spent nuclear fuel. The security of the transportation of civil nuclear material was thoroughly reviewed following the events of 11 September 2001, and is regularly reviewed in light of the prevailing threat. OCNS is satisfied that the measures in place to prevent theft or sabotage are adequately robust.
	Under health and safety legislation it is the responsibility of the organisation carrying out any activity to carry out a risk assessment. In the specific case of activities involving radioactive material this is a requirement of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (1999 No. 3232).

Officials' Travel Costs

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discounts are available in relation to hotel accommodation used by  (a) civil servants and  (b) special advisers in his Department.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport, Highways Agency and Driving Standards Agency all use a centrally negotiated contract with Expotel, providing discounted rates for hotels throughout the UK. This is available to both civil servants and special advisers.
	The Vehicle Certification Agency uses a centrally negotiated contract, and has a discount arrangement with a hotel in Detroit.
	The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency has negotiated a preferential rate with Arnos Manor Hotel in Bristol, and MCA has similar arrangements with the Jury's Inn and Ibis West hotels in Southampton.
	The Government Car and Despatch Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency currently have no discounted hotel rates in place.

Public Transport

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to improve the skills of employees in the transport sector; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on this subject;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of workers in the transport sector;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to encourage the recruitment of a more diverse cross section of workers in the transport sector;
	(4)  what discussions he has had with  (a) the leaders of transport sector employers and  (b) the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on their capacity to (i) train and (ii) improve the skills of their work force.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport is committed to valuing diversity and promoting equality. The Department facilitates the Women's Transport Network (WTN) to provide a forum for women to contribute to policy development in the transport field and to encourage women to enter and progress in the transport industries.
	However, the recruitment and training of staff are commercial matters for individual transport sectors and employers to manage.

Railways

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport from which rolling stock manufacturers new rail vehicles have been purchased in each of the last seven years, broken down into companies based in  (a) the UK,  (b) mainland Europe and  (c) elsewhere.

Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) on 20 December 2005,  Official Report, columns 2934-37W.

Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for which stations his Department has specified a reduction in the number of stopping trains each day since Ministers took over responsibility for passenger rail franchising from the Strategic Rail Authority.

Derek Twigg: Over the past 12 months since taking over responsibility for passenger rail franchising from the Strategic Rail Authority the Secretary of State for Transport has only specified the service at stations covered by the South Western Franchise. The Department has specified a minimum service level, outline details of which are found in the stakeholder briefing document available at www.dft.gov.uk. Bids for the replacement franchise are currently being prepared following the issue of the ITT on 31 March 2006. The contents of the ITT are confidential to bidders until the franchise is awarded later this year. The winning bidder will then develop the timetable.

Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the railway stations for which he has specified a reduction in the number of services in the past 12 months.

Derek Twigg: Over the past 12 months the Secretary of State for Transport has only specified services at stations covered by the South Western Franchise. The Department has specified a minimum service level, outline details of which are found in the stakeholder briefing document available at www.dft.gov.uk. Bids for the replacement franchise are currently being prepared following the issue of the ITT on 31 March 2006. The contents of the ITT are confidential to bidders until the franchise is awarded later this year. The winning bidder will then develop the timetable.

Railways

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are in place to ensure disabled access to trains at rural railway stations.

Gillian Merron: All station operators, including those in rural areas, are required to meet the requirements of Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 with regard to access for disabled people. The Act requires them to take reasonable steps to ensure that disabled people do not find it impossible or unreasonably difficult to access their services by removing or altering physical features, by finding a way to avoid them, or by providing the service by a reasonable alternative means. This may be done by making physical alterations to stations or taking such other action as is reasonable for any particular station. Operators are responding to these duties. Currently over half of railway journeys originate from step-free stations.
	We do, however, recognise that further work at stations may be needed in some cases to make the railway system accessible to disabled people. We published the 'railways for all' strategy on 23 March which includes details of how the £370 million 'access for all' funding will be targeted to deliver access improvements at stations over the next 10 years.
	We have also made available an additional £7 million a year that train operators, local authorities and other third parties can bid for on a match funding basis to make smaller scale accessibility improvements at stations, including rural stations.
	We are also taking steps to ensure rail vehicles are accessible to disabled people and the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998 require that all new passenger rolling stock introduced from 1 January 1999 is accessible to disabled people. Over 4,500 rail vehicles which meet the requirements of those regulations have already been introduced and from no later than 1 January 2020 all rail vehicles will have to comply.

Railways

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2006,  Official Report, column 2403W on railways, whether  (a) he and  (b) other Ministers in his Department attended Northern Night at the 2005 Labour party conference.

Derek Twigg: The Department does not hold information about political engagements undertaken at party conferences.

Road Pricing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether his road pricing pilot will be revenue neutral;
	(2)  what his policy will be for charging drivers based outside the geographic area of his proposed road pricing pilots who enter those areas during the course of the pilot;
	(3)  whether participation in his proposed road pricing pilot will be voluntary.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no current applications to the Secretary of State for the confirmation of road pricing (charging) schemes. The Secretary of State cannot pre-judge any applications that might be made to him in the future, and he has not done so.

Road Pricing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce which region will host the pilot project for his road pricing policy.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 22 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1281W given to the hon. Member for Bristol East.

Road Pricing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who will meet the  (a) management,  (b) administration and  (c) technology costs of his proposed road pricing pilot.

Stephen Ladyman: No decisions have been taken on what the balance of central Government contributions to local contributions might be in the case of the road pricing elements of TIF schemes. This will depend on what proposals are put forward by local authorities.

Road Pricing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether motorists participating in the proposed road pricing pilot will be entitled to a fuel duty rebate; and how differential petrol prices will apply to those  (a) in and  (b) not participating in the pilot;
	(2)  whether motorists participating in the proposed road pricing pilot will be entitled to lower rates of fuel duty when driving outside the area covered by the pricing scheme.

Stephen Ladyman: Decisions on fuel duty are taken by the Chancellor through the usual Budget process. The Government's policy is that fuel duties should be applied at uniform rates across the country.

Road Pricing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy will be on road pricing on major trunk roads passing through the areas covered by his proposed pilot.

Stephen Ladyman: We expect local authorities to work closely with the Highways Agency as they develop proposals for road pricing schemes. Should this result in proposals for pricing on the trunk road network these will be considered on their merits. The Secretary of State cannot pre-judge any decision that he may be called upon to make in the future and has not done so.

Rotherwas Access Road

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006,  Official Report, column 801W, on the Rotherwas Access Road, when a decision will be announced on the Rotherwas Access Road.

Gillian Merron: The Department is currently considering Herefordshire's business case for this scheme alongside the West Midland region's advice on its priorities for major transport schemes within the indicative regional funding allocations announced in July 2005. The Department expects to announce our response later this year.

School Transport

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will encourage passenger transport executives  (a) to pilot and  (b) to develop the yellow bus system for school transport;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with  (a) passenger transport authorities,  (b) bus operators and  (c) local authorities on new ways of transporting children to school;
	(3)  what initiatives his Department has undertaken to encourage  (a) passenger transport executives and  (b) local authorities to develop innovative systems of transportation of school children; and what funding he has allocated for this purpose for 2006-07;
	(4)  what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on their plans to promote safer, more sustainable transport for school children;
	(5)  whether his Department has evaluated the pilots of the yellow bus system of transporting children to school.

Gillian Merron: The Department has set out our plans for promoting safer, more sustainable travel to school and our expectations of local authorities in Travelling to School: an action plan which we published jointly with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in September 2003.
	The Department wants children to walk or cycle to school but, where it is too far or it is considered not safe for them to do so, we want to see more children catching the bus.
	The Department is not planning a national roll out of dedicated school buses, but we want to encourage individual local authorities and Passenger Transport Executives to consider school bus schemes as part of broader local transport planning and decide if they would be appropriate to their area. The Department knows from our earlier evaluation of various small-scale yellow and other dedicated school bus schemes that well-designed schemes have the potential to reduce car dependency for journeys to school and the traffic congestion that results from this. But care also needs to be taken to ensure that they are appropriate to local circumstances and do not reduce levels of walking or cycling or undermine the viability of important bus services available to the wider public.
	The Department is providing £18.7 million over the next three years to purchase 150 dedicated buses for West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive's MyBus school bus scheme. The evaluation of this scheme should be completed next year but the initial signs are that there has been some impact in reducing the number of children travelling to school by car and other non-transport benefits have also been reported.
	The Education and Inspections Bill includes provisions to improve home to school transport, including enabling a small number of local authorities to propose Pathfinder schemes to test innovative approaches to home to school transport. These schemes would support school choice, and increase the proportion travelling by sustainable means.
	DfES has policy responsibility for home to school transport and will be talking to local authorities interested in running Pathfinder schemes, including passenger transport executives where relevant, later this year. Formal expressions of interest will only be sought after the Bill has been enacted, and formal consultation on the Pathfinder guidance and prospectus has taken place. DfES will support schemes, which it anticipates will start in September 2009, with £4 million pump priming and annual revenue support building up over several years to £12 million.

Small Change Big Difference Campaign

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department and its agencies have taken following the launch of the Government's 'small change big difference' campaign.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport promotes the health benefits of more walking and cycling through its initiatives to encourage more sustainable travel and through publications, such as 'walk in to work out'.
	As the programme of work develops the Department of Health will be working across all of Government to ensure the programme joins up to promote maximum impact. DH is leading the implementation for this initiative as part of its cross-Government commitment to deliver the public health White Paper 'Choosing Health'.

Special Advisers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been paid in  (a) salary,  (b) travelling expenses,  (c) subsistence allowance and  (d) removal expenses to special advisers in his private office in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: In respect of  (a) since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and overall cost of special advisers and the number in each payband. For information relating to the last financial year I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 21 July 2005  Official Report, columns 158-61WS.
	Information on Special Advisers' salaries for the last financial year is currently being collected and will be published in the normal way when it is ready.
	The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002. The total recorded travel  (b) and subsistence costs  (c) for Special Advisers since then are:
	
		
			  Financial Year  Travel and Subsistence (£) 
			 2002-03 1,296.51 
			 2003-04 834.30 
			 2004-05 1,080.08 
			 2005-06 5,425.26 
		
	
	It is not possible to disaggregate amounts spent on travel and subsistence.
	The amount spent on travel and subsistence in 2005-06 is higher than in previous years, largely as a consequence of travel required due to the UK's Presidency of the European Union between July and December 2005.
	All official travel by Special Advisers is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
	The Department for Transport has no record of payments of removal expenses for Special Advisers.

Telephone Advice Lines

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many telephone advice lines his Department and its non-departmental public bodies support; and how many telephone advisers each employs; and how much funding is provided by  (a) his Department and its non-departmental public bodies,  (b) other Government Departments,  (c) the private sector and  (d) the voluntary sector.

Gillian Merron: Within DfT(c) the only area running advice lines is Mobility Advice Vehicle Information Service (MAVIS), who have three lines:
	MAVIS information line
	National number for the UK Forum of Mobility Centres
	Blue Badge Enquiry Line
	A total of three staff are employed to provide information services, which include answering the advice lines. It is therefore not possible to calculate the cost of answering these advice lines.
	The overall number of advice lines in use by DfT's agencies and NDPBs is 41, with the number of staff involved in support of these advice lines being 836.
	Identifying the specific costs associated with these lines would incur disproportionate cost—many staff involved are not solely employed as telephone advisors. Funding for the agencies' and NDPBs' advice lines come from both the DfT and the private sector.
	Tables giving details for the agencies' and NDPBs' advice lines, including funding have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Transport Infrastructure Funding

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list publicly funded schemes of greater than £50,000 in value for transport infrastructure in  (a) London and  (b) West Yorkshire.

Gillian Merron: The Department does not hold comprehensive lists of all publicly funded transport infrastructure schemes in London and West Yorkshire.
	For schemes in London, the Department allocates funds to Transport for London through the London Transport Grant. It is for Transport for London to decide how to allocate that money.
	For improvement and maintenance schemes in West Yorkshire costing less than £5 million, the Department allocates block (not scheme-specific) support to the metropolitan district councils and passenger transport authority to implement the West Yorkshire local transport plan.
	In addition, railway schemes in London and West Yorkshire are funded mainly by Network Rail.
	The major schemes which have been funded directly by this Department, and which have opened or been fully approved in the last five years in London and West Yorkshire are as follows:
	 London
	King's Cross station LUL ticket hall modernisation. Under construction.
	 West Yorkshire
	A64 York Road Guided Bus scheme (Leeds). Opened 2001.
	A641 Manchester Road Guided Bus scheme (Bradford). Opened 2002.
	South Bradford Integrated Transport Scheme. Opened 2004.
	Connecting the City (Bradford City Centre). Opened 2004
	Leeds Inner Ring Road Stage 7. Under construction.
	East Leeds Link Road. Fully approved with construction due to commence autumn 2006.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Music Education

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on future Standards Fund funding of music education in schools.

Parmjit Dhanda: Funding beyond 2007-08 is dependent on the outcome of the comprehensive spending review. However, there has been an overall increase in funding of music education in schools through the standards fund for this year and next.
	In addition to grant of around £60 million made to local music services, there has been a further £30 million identified for schools intended specifically to support instrumental and vocal tuition for key stage 2 pupils.

Children's Directors

Kali Mountford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he has issued to children's directors on co-ordination of their different policy responsibilities.

Beverley Hughes: There has been guidance since 2004 when 'Every child matters: change for children' was published along with a joint DH/DfES publication on supporting local delivery. The White Paper 'Our health our care, our say' (January 2006) set out expectations for joint working between PCTs, GPs and children's trusts, including commissioning of services, local area agreements, delivery through multi-disciplinary networks and teams, performance assessment and alignment of planning and finance cycles for PCTs and local authorities. Guidance for practitioners and managers is also kept up to date.
	Communications with local authorities are coordinated through a communications gateway which significantly contributes to the coherence of communications to local authorities.

Single Sciences

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on changes to the arrangements for studying single sciences at GCSE level.

Parmjit Dhanda: The "science and innovation investment framework 2004 to 2014: next steps" document outlines our commitment to encourage schools to provide greater access to the three separate sciences. By September 2008 our aim is that all pupils achieving at least level 6 at key stage 3 will have access to study three separate science GCSEs, to increase progression to, and attainment at, A-level science.

Africa (Children's Policies)

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action his Department has taken to pursue the Commission for Africa's recommendation on support for children's policies in Africa.

Bill Rammell: We have recently supported a very successful young carer's workshop in Nairobi in partnership with the Commonwealth organisation for social work, the Commonwealth youth programme and the Children's Society.
	I am particularly pleased there was such a strong contribution from young carers' from Africa and the UK. The conference has strengthened the voice of young people who carry out these difficult responsibilities in very challenging situations.

Financial Capability Education

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proposals the qualification and curriculum authority has developed for making financial capability education more explicit in the national mathematics curriculum.

Jim Knight: QCA are taking forward the remit to raise the profile of financial capability education in a number of ways. To identify financial contexts within the development of functional mathematics; through guidance for mathematics teachers; and through a suite of sample lesson plans, set in the context of shopping and retailing.

Ataullah Siddiqui

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what process was undertaken to assess the suitability of Ataullah Siddiqui for the role of adviser to the Government on Islam in Higher Education;
	(2)  what steps his Department took to investigate whether there were links between Ataullah Siddiqui and the Jamaat-e-Islami Party prior to his appointment as adviser to the Government on Islam in Higher Education;
	(3)  what steps his Department took to investigate whether there were links between the Islamic Foundation of Leicester, the Markfield Institute of Higher Education and the Jamaat-e-Islami Party prior to the appointment of Ataullah Siddiqui as adviser to the Government on Islam in Higher Education.

Bill Rammell: I have appointed Dr. Siddiqi to advise the Department on how the quality of information about Islam available to students in universities and colleges can be improved. Dr. Siddiqi will be taking account of a range of views, and will be making recommendations early in 2007.
	I appointed Dr. Siddiqi to this role because after careful consideration I decided he was the best qualified of a number of candidates. Dr. Siddiqi has a commitment to improving relationships between Muslims and the wider community, and is vice-chair of the Christian-Muslim forum launched by the Archbishop of Canterbury in January 2006. He has a distinguished academic record and an appropriate level of understanding of the education system. While the content of his report is a matter for him to decide, after appropriate consultation, Dr. Siddiqi shares the Government's concern that the material available about Islam in educational institutions is often unduly narrow in its outlook, and does not deal adequately with the role of Islam in a modern pluralistic society.
	Dr. Siddiqi has assured me categorically that he has no links to the Jamaat-e-Islami Party.
	Dr. Siddiqi is director of the Markfield Institute for Higher Education, although his appointment is in a personal capacity. The Markfield Institute of Higher Education is a higher education institution whose courses are validated by the University of Loughborough, and are subject to an audit of quality by the Quality Assurance Agency. It is sponsored by the Islamic Foundation Trust, an organisation which has a number of collaborations with universities in the UK and overseas. Neither Markfield nor the Islamic Foundation Trust have organisational links to Jamaat-e-Islami.

Children Centre Support

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which individuals and organisations his Department consulted before making the decision to contract out children's centre support work from the Department.

Beverley Hughes: The decision to contract out support for the roll-out of children's centres followed a recommendation from a wider review of the Government's 10-Year Childcare Strategy, during which a wide range of stakeholders were consulted, including local authority lead officials, children's centre managers and Sure Start and Children's Fund regional team leaders.
	Before deciding to accept this recommendation the Department—in addition to work with a range of its own staff—held discussions with the Training and Development Agency for Schools, the Children's Workforce Development Council, with Government Office Directors of Children and Learners and with the Department's Trade Union side.

Connexions

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Connexions Card, with particular reference to take-up.

Beverley Hughes: The latest independent evaluation report of the effectiveness of the Connexions Card, undertaken by York Consulting Ltd. and published in January 2005 found that there had been improvements in engagement of schools and colleges and young people since 2003. There was also indicative evidence that the card may be having a positive effect on some cardholders and that many cardholders are positive about the potential benefits of the card. However, there was no evidence that the originally intended impact on increasing post-16 participation in further education and training is yet being achieved. Numbers taking up the card at that time were lower than original expectations. There are currently 604,645 Connexions cardholders.

Foreign Languages

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which foreign languages are taught in schools in Coventry South.

Jim Knight: Information is not collected on the subjects taught in schools. While it is possible to provide information on schools where at least one pupil has been entered for a particular subject, it is not possible, however, to say whether the school has actually taught the subject or whether the pupil has been entered privately. 15-year old pupils in Coventry South entered GCSEs in 2005 in the following languages—Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Classical Civilisation, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Italian, Latin, Panjabi, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu. Similar information is not readily available for other age groups.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the  (a) originally estimated,  (b) most recently estimated and  (c) outturn cost was in each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed by his Department with outside suppliers over the last five years.

Phil Hope: The information as requested is not readily available centrally within the Department for Education and Skills. To respond fully would involve an extensive internal and external information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
	An analysis of the Department's individual learning account (ILA) programme is given in the report: 'The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts (2003), individual learning accounts, tenth report of session 2002-03' (Ref: HC 544), TSO, London.
	An analysis of the Department's UK e-university project is given in the report: 'The House of Commons Education and Skills select committee (2005),UK e-university, third report of session 2004-05'(Ref: HC 205), TSO, London.
	In addition, I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children Young People and Families on 13 June 2005,  Official Report, column 192W; and, 3 November 2005,  Official Report, column 1314W.

Information Technology

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to improve the quality of information and communication technology teaching in schools.

Phil Hope: Through the national strategies and national council for school leadership we are developing materials and peer-to-peer support to help school leaders and teachers make the best use of information and communications technology teaching to raise standards across the curriculum. We are supporting schools to invest in new teaching technologies such as interactive whiteboards and tablet PCs that are transforming many classrooms.

Private Contractors

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills with which private companies the Department has contracts; and what the  (a) value and  (b) purpose of each contract is.

Bill Rammell: This information could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Abdul Razzaq Ali al-Jedda

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to the Iraqi government on the detention since October 2004 without charge or trial of joint UK/Iraqi national Abdul Razzaq Ali al-Jedda; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Mr. al-Jedda is being detained by the British contingent of the Multi-National Force in Iraq for imperative reasons of security under the authority conferred by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1546 (2004) and 1637 (2005).

Cayman Islands

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what timetable has been set for the modernisation of the Cayman Islands Constitution; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The timetable for Overseas Territory constitutional reviews is a matter for agreement between the Government and the Territory concerned. Following the publication of the Cayman Islands Constitution Review Commissioners' report in March 2002, there were initial negotiations on a new constitution between representatives of the UK and the Cayman Islands in December 2002. A new draft Constitution was prepared to reflect the outcome of these discussions and sent to the Islands in February 2003. This was debated by the Legislative Assembly in November 2003. The then Cayman Islands Government put the review process on hold in early 2004. Following the election of a new government in May 2005, constructive exploratory talks were held between a UK team and Cayman Islands representatives in March 2006. Once the consultation process, which we understand the Cayman Islands intends to hold, has been completed, the UK stands ready to participate in further discussions with Cayman Islands representatives.

Chad

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of  (a) the rebel attack on 13 April on N'Djamena and  (b) allegations of Sudanese involvement (i) in this action and (ii) with rebel groups in Chad; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: The United Nations Security Council has condemned the recent attempt to overthrow the Government of Chad by force and called on the parties in Chad to resolve their political differences by negotiation.
	We are aware of reports concerning the Government of Sudan's alleged support for Chadian rebels. We welcome the African Union's (AU) initiative to send a mission to Chad to examine the political situation and investigate such allegations. This mission arrived in N'Djamena on 21 April and will report to the AU Peace and Security Council.
	We continue to call on all sides to show restraint, and on the Governments of Chad and Sudan to resolve their differences and restore calm to the region without the use of violence.

Chad

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to  (a) Sudan,  (b) the African Union and  (c) the UN regarding the attack on N'Djamena.

Ian McCartney: The Chadian army defeated attacks on N'Djamena and Adre by rebel groups on 13 April. We are aware of reports concerning the Government of Sudan's alleged support for Chadian rebels. We continue to call on all sides to show restraint, and on the Governments of Chad and Sudan to resolve their differences and restore calm to the region without the use of violence.
	Although we have not made recent representations to the African Union (AU), we welcome their initiative to send a mission to Chad to examine the political situation and investigate such allegations. This mission arrived in N'Djamena on 21 April, and will report to the AU Peace and Security Council.
	We were proactive in supporting the United Nations Security Council's condemnation of the attempt to overthrow the Government of Chad by force and called on the parties to resolve their political differences by negotiation.

Congo

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make representations to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the arrest of the Reverend Kuthino Fernando; and what discussions she hashad with the Government on the use of secretpolice.

Ian McCartney: Through our embassy in Kinshasa, we have registered our concern over the arrest of Reverend Kuthino with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We continue to remind all parties in the DRC that freedom of expression must be respected and ethnically charged speech must be prevented, particularly during the upcoming electoral campaign.
	The international community has repeatedly made clear to the Congolese authorities that major reform of the security services is necessary. We have stated publicly that human rights abuses committed by security agencies need to be prevented, and their perpetrators brought to justice.

Departmental Expenditure

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from her Department in each of the last five years.

Geoff Hoon: The top 10 non-public body suppliers for each year are:
	 2001-02
	Computacentre (UK) Ltd.
	Armorgroup Services Limited
	American Express (Europe)
	Global Crossing(UK)Telecom Ltd.
	Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd.
	Laing Ltd.
	Exel Freight Mgt (UK) Ltd.
	NFC Moving Services
	Logica UK Ltd.
	Atos Kpmg Consulting
	 2002-03
	Global Crossing(UK)Telecom Ltd.
	Cap Gemini Ernst and Young UK Plc
	Armorgroup Services Limited
	Computacenter (UK) Ltd.
	American Express Europe Ltd.
	NFC Moving Services
	Fujitsu Consulting Ltd.
	Exel Freight Mgt (UK) Ltd.
	Amey BPO Services Ltd.
	Logica UK Ltd.
	 2003-04
	Global Crossing(UK)Telecom Ltd.
	Armorgroup Services Limited
	American Express Europe Ltd.
	Computacenter (UK) Ltd.
	Cap Gemini Ernst and Young UK Plc
	Control Risks Group
	NFC Moving Services
	Amey BPO Services Ltd
	World Television
	Exel Freight Mgt (UK) Ltd
	 2004-05
	Control Risks Group
	Global Crossing(UK)Telecom Ltd
	Rotary International
	American Express Europe Ltd
	Capgemini UK Plc
	Armorgroup Services Limited
	Computacenter (UK) Ltd
	Orostream Specialised Building Service Group
	Exel Freight Mang UK Ltd.
	Security Printing and Systems Ltd.
	 2005-06
	Control Risks Group
	Global Crossing(UK)Telecom Ltd.
	Hewlett-Packard Ltd.
	Armorgroup Services Limited
	Capgemini UK Plc
	American Express Europe Ltd.
	Rotary International
	Jack Morton Worldwide Limited
	Gibs Ltd.
	Crown Worldwide Ltd.

Disability Access

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any building in her Department falls short of disability access regulations.

Geoff Hoon: All Foreign and Commonwealth Office buildings in the UK meet the access requirements under disability access regulations, with the exception of a small number of portacabins at Hanslope Park which were erected prior to the regulations coming into force. These have limited access for people with a mobility disability and are due for demolition within the next two years. At present no one with such disability requires access to the portacabins. If access were needed we would look at the options available in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act.

EU Directives

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will list the directives in respect of which the European Commission has taken the UK Government to court for failing to transpose them into national law since 1997.

Geoff Hoon: The following table sets out the information. A number of the cases are marked as being 'Removed from the Register'. These are cases where the application was lodged at the European Court of Justice but did not proceed to judgment, in most cases because the UK satisfied the Commission that the directive had been implemented. Where information on these cases is available it has been included. However, it would incur disproportionate cost to provide details for them all.
	
		
			  ECJ case reference  Directive 
			 C-39/99 REMOVED FROM REGISTER 
			 C-69/99 Failure to properly transpose articles 3 and 5 of directive 91/676/EEC on protection of waters against pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources 
			 C-455/99 REMOVED FROM REGISTER 
			 C-468/99 REMOVED FROM REGISTER 
			 C-441/00 Failure to properly implement directive 96/48/EC on the inter-operability of the Trans-European High Speed Rail system 
			 C-30/01 Failure to implement directives in Gibraltar—67/548/EC (packaging and labelling of dangerous substances), 87/1 8/EC (good laboratory practices), 93/12/EC (sulphur content of liquid fuels), 79/113/EC as amended by 85/405/EC (noise emissions of construction equipment), 84/533/EC (sound power level of compressors), 84/534/EDC (sound power level of tower cranes), 84/535/EC (sound power level of welding generators), 84/536/EC (sound power level of power generators), 84/537/EC (sound power level of hand-held concrete breakers), 84/538/EC (sound power level of lawn mowers), 86/594/EC (airborne noise of household appliances), 86/662/EC (limitation of noise of hydraulic excavators etc.), 94/62/EC (packaging and packaging waste), 97/35/EC (deliberate release of GM organisms) 
			 C-31/01 REMOVED FROM REGISTER 
			 C-39/01 Failure to transpose directive 96/61 on integrated pollution prevention and control 
			 C-373/01 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive (91/157/EEC) on batteries in NI and Gibraltar) 
			 C-374/01 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive 98/8/EC on biocidal products) 
			 C-382/01 REMOVED FROM REGISTER 
			 C-489/01 Failure to transpose directive 97/9/EC on investor compensation schemes in Gibraltar 
			 C-63/02 Failure to transpose directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption in Wales and Northern Ireland 
			 C-210/02 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to adopt for Gibraltar all the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with directive 97/43/Euratom (health protection of individuals against the dangers of ionising radiation in relation to medical exposure)) 
			 C-218/02 Failure to fully transpose directive 96/29/Euratom (protection of health of workers and public against dangers from ionising radiation) 
			 C-305/02 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive 2000/21/EC on the list of legislation referred to in article 13 of directive 67/548/EEC) 
			 C-310/02 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive 1998/98/EC on classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances in Gibraltar) 
			 C-331/02 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive 1999/30/EC relating to the limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air in Gibraltar) 
			 C-332/02 Failure to transpose directive 1999/13/EC (limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents) 
			 C-405/02 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive 99/42/EC on recognition of professional qualifications) 
			 C-421/02 Failure to fully transpose directive 85/337/EC (assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment) 
			 C-423/02 Failure to transpose directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste 
			 C-424/02 Failure to transpose article 3 of directive 75/439/EC as amended by directive 87/101/EC on the disposal of waste oils 
			 C-431/02 Failure to fully transpose directive 91/689/EC on hazardous waste 
			 C-458/02 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to correctly implement/comply with article 8 of directive 92/100 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright) 
			 C-62/03 Failure to properly transpose directive 75/442/EEC on waste as amended by directive 91/156/EEC and decision 96/350/EC 
			 C-277/03 Failure to transpose directive 2000/53/EC on end of life vehicles 
			 C-349/03 Failure to transpose directive 77/799/EC on mutual assistance in the field of direct and indirect taxation in Gibraltar 
			 C-483/03 Failure to transpose directive 2001/12 (development of Community's railways), 2001/13 (licensing of railway undertakings) and 2001/14 (allocation of infrastructure capacity and charging for use of infrastructure) 
			 C-508/03 Failure to properly transpose and apply directive 85/337/EC (assessment of effects of certain projects on the environment) 
			 C-6/04 Failure to correctly transpose directive 92/43/EEC (the habitats directive) 
			 C-88/04 Failure to transpose directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of aspects of copyright and related rights 
			 C-164/04 Failure to fully transpose directive 2001/17/EC (re-organisation and winding up of insurance undertakings) 
			 C-199/04 Failure to interpret and apply national legislation so as to correctly implement directive 85/337/EC (assessment of effects of certain projects on the environment) 
			 C-385/04 Failure to transpose directive 2001/16/EC (interoperability of conventional rail system) 
			 C-455/04 Failure to transpose directive 2001/55/EC (minimum standards for temporary protection in event of mass influx of displaced persons) 
			 C-484/04 Failure to correctly implement directive 93/104/EC (organisation of working time) 
			 C-505/04 Failure to transpose directive 2001/19/EC (mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other qualifications) in Gibraltar 
			 C-37/05 Failure to correctly transpose articles 2 and 4 of directive 85/337 (assessment of effects of certain projects on the environment) 
			 C-126/05 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive 2000/34/EC amending directive 93/104/EC (working time)) 
			 C-131/05 Failure to correctly transpose article 6 of directive 79/409/EEC (birds directive) and articles 12 and 13 of directive 92/43/EEC (habitats directive) 
			 C-323/05 REMOVED FROM REGISTER (Failure to transpose directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety) 
			 C-138/06 Failure to transpose directive 2002/49/EC on the assessment and management of environmental noise 
			 C-139/06 Failure to transpose directives 2002/96/EC and 2003/108/EC on waste electronic and electrical equipment 
			 C-l55/06 Failure to fully transpose directive 96/29/Euratom on safety standards for the protection of workers and the public against the dangers of ionising radiation

European Council

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of the vetoes held by individual member states over measures proposed in the European Council.

Geoff Hoon: The European Council operates by consensus. There are no proposals to change this.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside her Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in her Department; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Geoff Hoon: The total value of information technology contracts greater than £1 million let by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) over the last five years is £478,245,262.
	Some of these contracts run for more than five years. The total includes a £180 million contract with Global Crossing for provision of both voice and data communications for the FCO's Telecommunications Network.
	In accordance with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) best practice, each project has a senior responsible owner at an appropriate level with responsibility for, and knowledge of, the business requirement. Project management is provided internally or sourced externally according to the skills and qualifications required for the scale of project concerned. All IT-enabled projects above the relevant threshold are approved and monitored by the FCO's Investment Committee, and are subject to external validation through the OGC Gateway review process. Both ensure that the project team is adequately staffed and professionally skilled to deliver effectively. To give full details of all staff concerned would incur disproportionate cost.

Nepal

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what her Department's policy is on the granting of export licences to Nepal for the sale of arms.

Kim Howells: All applications from the UK are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Export Licensing Criteria, taking full account of the prevailing circumstances at the time of application. This process includes specific criteria whereby we will not issue a licence where there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression, might aggravate existing tensions or conflict in the country of final destination or that the export may be used aggressively against another country. Details of all export licences approved to Nepal are available in the Quarterly and Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls (available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front? pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c= Page &cid=l089131553823), and are subject to detailed retrospective scrutiny by the Quadripartite Committees.

Nepal

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring of the ceasefire in Nepal is undertaken by UK representatives; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: None. The UK has no locus to act as a ceasefire monitor.

Prisoners (Iraq/Afghanistan)

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has received from the US Administration in the last six months regarding UK policy on the transfer of prisoners held by UK forces in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan to the custody of US forces in those countries.

Kim Howells: We have received no formal representations in the last six months. But we regularly discuss the range of issues relating to the operational theatres in Iraq and Afghanistan, including detention, with the US.

Uganda

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of reports that the British law firm Denton Wilde Sapte is to prosecute the Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye for treason in a trial which carries the death penalty; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: We are aware of media reports that a British firm of solicitors may have been approached by the Ugandan public prosecutor to assist in the prosecution of Dr Besigye. This is a matter for the parties concerned.
	The prosecution has however given no indication that they will seek the death penalty should Dr. Besigye be convicted. The last occasion on which a capital sentence imposed by the High Court was carried out in Uganda was in 1999. We have repeatedly made clear to the Ugandan Government our opposition to the death penalty and the need for a fair and transparent judicial process.

Uganda

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the internal situation in Uganda; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: Uganda faces two main internal challenges: developing and sustaining democratic accountability and good governance, and bringing to an end the long-running conflict in the North. We have a regular dialogue with the Ugandan authorities on both issues and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development discussed them in depth during his visit on 15-16 May. He emphasised that this was a crucial time in Uganda's political development. The re-introduction of a multi-party political system after 25 years was an important achievement: both Government and Opposition must work together to achieve an accountable and transparent political process. He welcomed the President's manifesto commitment to tackle corruption and to hold those responsible to account. We welcome commitments by the Government of Uganda to deal with the conflict in the North.

UK Prisoners Abroad

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 905-7W, on UK prisoners abroad, how many UK citizens detained in overseas gaols had a last residential address in  (a) Essex and  (b) Southend West.

Kim Howells: As British nationals detained overseas are not required to inform local consular officials of their last UK residential address, I am unable to provide the information requested by the hon. Member.

Zimbabwe

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will take steps to ensure that Arthur Mutambara of the Movement for Democratic Change is released from custody in Zimbabwe or given a fair trial.

Ian McCartney: We note with concern the arrest of Arthur Mutumbara and his party colleagues. They were released on 19 May. It is not yet clear if charges will be pressed. Our embassy in Harare has been and remains in contact with Mr. Mutambara's associates. This appears to be yet another instance of the Zimbabwean Government harassing those who oppose them. We will continue to press for the restoration of democracy and the rule of law.

CABINET OFFICE

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside her Cabinet Office in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in the Cabinet Office; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Patrick McFadden: The amount spent on information technology (IT) hardware, software, consultancy and services sourced from outside the Department in each of the last five financial years is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Expenditure (£) 
			 2001-02 16,630,784 
			 2002-03 16,719,547 
			 2003-04 21,195,208 
			 2004-05 22,385,617 
			 2005-06 35,756,263 
		
	
	These totals do not include the costs of ancillary or supporting IT provided as an integral part of contracts for other goods and services and not separately identified.
	The figures for 2005-06 are subject to audit. Audited figures will be available in the published resource accounts, due before the summer recess.
	Overall policy for IT projects in the Department falls under the shared services director in the e-Government unit. The current post holder has 20 years experience in IT management roles in both private and public sectors and is a qualified accountant.

Ministerial Tenure

Graham Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the average length of time in office has been for  (a) Cabinet Ministers,  (b) Ministers of State and  (c) Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State since 1997.

Hilary Armstrong: Information on ministerial appointments can be obtained from the 'List of Ministerial Responsibilities'. Editions since 1997 are available in the Library.

Social Exclusion (Air Travel)

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the role of budget airlines in reducing social exclusion by enabling passengers wider access to foreign and internal travel; and if she will make a statement.

Hilary Armstrong: No formal assessment of the role of budget airlines in reducing social exclusion has been made, however we recognise the value that access to affordable travel may have in helping promote social inclusion.
	Tackling social exclusion is one of this Government's most ambitious and important goals and transport problems can reinforce social exclusion. The social exclusion unit has focused on ensuring that local services and activities are accessible, and as a result of the 2003 'Making the Connections: Transport and Social Exclusion' report, accessibility planning is now a central feature of local transport plans.

Vehicle Sharing

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what incentives her Department offers to encourage staff to share vehicles when travelling to work.

Patrick McFadden: Given that the vast majority of Cabinet Office employees are located in central London and travel to and from work by public transport, the Cabinet Office does not offer specific incentives to encourage its employees to share vehicles when travelling to work.
	Despite this, the Cabinet Office will be encouraging more sustainable travel (business and travel to and from work) among its employees depending on the nature and circumstances of particular sites. For example, the Cabinet Office's Environmental Policy is currently being revised and the travel policy section is being strengthened to this effect and will encourage employees to car share where public transport is not reasonably accessible travelling to and from work.
	Further initiatives will be considered as part of any Government-wide publicity campaigns on travelling more sustainably and the Cabinet Office's membership of the Civil Service Travel Group (CSTG). The CSTG aims to improve travel sustainability across the entire civil service by developing and delivering on action plans for each Department.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Government Vehicles

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister under what circumstances ministerial cars and drivers under the control of his Department may be used to transport his personal acquaintances on private business; and whether it is his policy to reimburse the costs of such use.

John Prescott: holding answer 2 May 2006
	Guidance on the use of ministerial cars is set out in the "Ministerial Code" and "Travel by Ministers".
	My Permanent Secretary at the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has replied, on his own behalf and that of the Cabinet Secretary, to a letter from the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Derek Conway) concerning the alleged misuse of my ministerial car. A copy of this reply has been made available in the Library of the House. The Permanent Secretary confirmed he was satisfied that the Department had appropriate systems in place and that at no time did I direct that my car be used as had been alleged.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Civil Service Uniform

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many security guards wearing Crown-based insignia  (a) there are in and  (b) have been contracted by the civil service, broken down by community background.

David Hanson: The following table outlines the number of security guards employed and contracted by the Northern Ireland civil service who are supplied with uniforms bearing a crown based insignia.
	
		
			  Security guards employed and contracted by NICS 
			   Number 
			 Security guards in NICS who wear crown insignia 49 
			 Security guards contracted by NICS who wear crown insignia — 
			 Total 49 
		
	
	The following table provides a breakdown by community background for the entire NICS guard force, as the information for only those supplied with uniforms with crown based insignia or who are contracted by the NICS is not readily available.
	
		
			  Community background  Number of staff 
			 Protestant 82 
			 Catholic 10 
			 Not determined 14 
			 Total 106

Councillors (Company Boards)

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what steps are being taken to address the reasons for the moratorium preventing local councillors from serving on the boards of arm's length companies;
	(2)  if he will bring forward legislation to enable councils to appoint  (a) councillors and  (b) officers to serve as directors of arm's length companies.

David Cairns: There is no moratorium preventing district councillors from serving on the boards of arm's length companies which district councils in Northern Ireland are currently involved in.
	At present, district councils do not have the power to establish or participate in companies. However, the Department of the Environment will commence consultation very shortly with district councils and other interested parties on a proposal to make subordinate legislation to allow councils, in exercising certain functions, to establish or participate in companies in order to carry out their duty of Best Value. The legislation will enable councils to appoint councillors or officers to serve as directors of such companies.
	In the meantime, until this subordinate legislation is made, the Department has agreed to give sanction to district councils under Article 19 of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 in respect of payments of attendance allowance and expenses to councillors and officers who represent their councils on companies. The approval of the Department prevents local government auditors from taking action which would result in persons responsible for the expenditure having to repay it.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what incentives  (a) each Department in Northern Ireland and  (b) the Northern Ireland Office, offer to encourage staff to share vehicles when travelling to work.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what incentives each department in Northern Ireland, including the Northern Ireland Office, offer to encourage staff to share vehicles when travelling to work.
	I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	The Travelwise Campaign in Northern Ireland is aimed at promoting more sustainable transport options, including walking, cycling, greater use of public transport and the concept of car sharing, particularly for the journey to work and places of education.
	Travelwise NI assists Government Departments as well as private and public sector businesses in promoting workplace travel plans, to encourage staff to travel more sustainably. Car Sharing is only one element of a travel plan.
	To facilitate car sharing in Government Departments, in June last year, Nigel Hamilton, Head of the NI Civil Service launched the Travelwise NI Car Share Scheme on behalf of Roads Service. This is a no-charge web-based scheme where Civil Servants are encouraged to go on-line at www.travelwisenicarshare.com and register their journey details. The system automatically searches for a person travelling in the same direction and puts staff in contact with each other to share their journeys.
	The scheme has been widely promoted across Government Departments through the media, information days, internal magazines and competitions and has now been rolled out to businesses and to the public. To date, 1,312 members have registered on the scheme and 38% of members have had their journeys matched and are potentially car sharing.
	By way of local incentives, the Department for Regional Development created 21 dedicated car share spaces at its Headquarters in Clarence Court, Belfast, to encourage greater car sharing among staff. I also understand that the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Department of Education offer staff who car share a guaranteed car parking space at some of their buildings.
	I should also add that Roads Service is currently responsible for 20 Park & Ride/Park & Share car parks across the province which provide 1,478 car park spaces. Civil Servants, like any member of the public, can park their cars at these sites and share the journey to work, thereby reducing travel costs. These sites are promoted at a Divisional level as well as through the Travelwise NI Website (www. travelwiseni.com). Further Park & Ride and Park & Share sites have been identified within the Sub-Regional Transport Plan and the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of staff in  (a) each department in Northern Ireland and  (b) the Northern Ireland Office, are making additional voluntary contributions to their pension.

David Hanson: The following table details the number and percentage of staff in each department in Northern Ireland, including the Northern Ireland Office who are making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions.
	Figures relating to the Northern Ireland Office include both members of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Home Civil Service working in that Department.
	
		
			  Employing dept  Active members  AVC contributors  Overall percentage 
			 Department of Education 667 25 3.75 
			 Northern Ireland Office 4303 107 2.49 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 2982 124 4.16 
			 Department of the Environment 3506 90 2.57 
			 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development 3415 177 5.18 
			 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety 973 40 4.11 
			 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure 450 10 2.22 
			 Department of Regional Development 3092 148 4.79 
			 OFM and DFM 375 36 9.6 
			 Department of Social Development 7914 87 1.1 
			 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Industry 716 45 6.28 
			 Department of Employment and Learning 1818 44 2.42 
			 Total 30,211 933 3.09

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to staff in  (a) each department in Northern Ireland and  (b) the Northern Ireland Office, in each of the last three years; and what the total cost was.

David Hanson: The following table details the non-pensionable bonuses that were awarded to staff in each Department of the Northern Ireland Administration and the Northern Ireland Office (including Agencies), in each of the last three financial years.
	It is part of the Government's pay policy that not all reward should be in the form of consolidated increases: non-consolidated, non-pensionable payments should also be part of civil service pay strategies and should focus on in-year performance. These payments, which form part of the annual NICS pay deal, represent the bulk of the following figures.
	
		
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  All three years 
			  Department  Number of bonuses  Cost  Number of bonuses  Cost  Number of bonuses  Cost  Total number  Total cost 
			 DFP 2,500 579,547 2,606 354,974 2,733 856,099 7,839 1,790,620 
			 DARD 2,554 524,265 2,868 353,296 2,710 781,372 8,132 1,658,933 
			 OFMDFM 324 130,510 383 113,665 369 207,305 1,076 451,480 
			 DCAL 442 84,388 380 58,760 410 126,786 1,232 269,934 
			 DRD 2,451 520,671 2,753 340,103 2,897 861,459 8,101 1,722,233 
			 DOE 1,984 499,538 2,387 500,367 1,745 485,997 6,116 1,485,902 
			 DETI 553 128,722 586 79,030 632 217,466 1,771 425,218 
			 DSD 6,589 1,160,602 7,500 744,997 7,803 1,967,979 21,892 3,873,578 
			 DHSSPS 843 270,675 939 186,259 951 386,117 2,733 843,051 
			 DE 571 152,338 629 118,880 571 207,665 1,771 478,883 
			 DEL 1,245 228,849 1,349 122,607 1,591 415,092 4,185 766,548 
			 NIO 990 250,714 2,709 499,138 2,004 650,772 5,703 1,400,624 
			 Total 21,046 4,530,819 25,089 3,472,076 24,416 7,164,109 70,551 15,167,004

Roads

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Department for Regional Development spent on improving the road network in County  (a) Tyrone,  (b) Derry and  (c) Fermanagh in each of the past five years; and how much the Department has budgeted for (i) 2006-07 and (ii) the next two years for roads in these counties.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 25 May 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how much the Department for Regional Development spent on improving the road network in County (a) Tyrone, (b) Derry and (c) Fermanagh in each of the past five years; and how much the Department has budgeted for (i) 2006-07 and (ii) the next two years for roads in these counties.
	I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	First of all I must advise that Roads Service does not maintain details of expenditure on a county basis. However, such information is available on a district council basis. The table below details Roads Service's expenditure on major and minor capital works improvements for the nine district councils whose boundaries straddle Counties Tyrone, Londonderry and Fermanagh:
	
		
			  Roads Service expenditure on major and minor works by council area 
			  £000 
			  Council Area  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  Fermanagh  
			 Major Capital 114 2 0 0 345 
			 Minor Capital 847 581 831 1,565 994 
			 Total Fermanagh 961 583 831 1,565 1,339 
			   
			  Strabane  
			 Major Capital 4,350 7,324 1,299 660 373 
			 Minor Capital 382 291 557 1,088 1,446 
			 Total Strabane 4,732 7,615 1,856 1,748 1,819 
			   
			  Omagh  
			 Major Capital 103 137 340 76 0 
			 Minor Capital 766 1,254 542 1,139 1,889 
			 Total Omagh 869 1,391 882 1,215 1,889 
			   
			   
			  Dungannon  
			 Major Capital 89 0 173 1,928 64 
			 Minor Capital 696 249 318 1,197 1,669 
			 Total Dungannon 785 249 491 3,125 1,733 
			   
			  Cookstown  
			 Major Capital 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Minor Capital 460 201 350 757 434 
			 Total Cookstown 460 201 350 757 434 
			   
			  Londonderry  
			 Major Capital 824 73 82 352 426 
			 Minor Capital 1,062 1,423 1,082 1,412 1,360 
			 Total Londonderry 1,886 1,496 1,164 1,764 1,786 
			   
			  Limavady  
			 Major Capital 1,241 7,228 3,268 230 241 
			 Minor Capital 601 149 0 1,596 952 
			 Total Limavady 1,842 7,377 3,268 1,826 1,193 
			   
			   
			  Coleraine  
			 Major Capital 33 4 1 0 0 
			 Minor Capital 858 496 886 1,121 934 
			 Total Coleraine 891 500 887 1,121 934 
			   
			  Magherafelt  
			 Major Capital Works 16 0 0 0 0 
			 Minor Capital Works 661 434 274 1,308 1,693 
			 Total Magherafelt 677 434 274 1,308 1,693 
		
	
	In providing the above information I should explain that Roads Service does not simply split its total budget for capital expenditure on roads across all the district council areas. Major road improvements are prioritised on a countrywide basis taking account of a broad range of criteria such as strategic planning policy, traffic flow, number of accidents, potential travel save times, environment impact and value for money. While the actual spend on a major works scheme may be within one district council area, the benefits of such schemes are not confined to the district council, constituency or county in which they are located.
	Roads Service expenditure on minor road improvements includes minor works, accident remedial schemes, transportation measure and minor bridge strengthening. The resources available for such works are allocated to the 4 Roads Service Divisions and, in turn, apportioned across district council areas on a needs-based priority approach using indicators such as population, weighted road lengths and the number of accidents. This ensures, so far as possible, an equitable distribution of funds across the country.
	With regard to the capital budget for 2006-07, again it is not possible to split this budget into counties. The total Roads Service Capital Budget in 2006/07 is £111M and the split per the relevant Roads Service Division is as follows:
	The initial budget allocation for major and minor works in Western Division is £22M (£7M Minor, £15M Major). Our Western Division incorporates 6 District Council areas—Cookstown, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Omagh, Magherafelt, and Strabane.
	The initial budget allocation for major and minor works in Northern Division is £12M (£6M Minor, £6M Major). Our Northern Division incorporates 8 District Council areas—Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine, Derry, Larne, Limavady, and Moyle.
	With regard to the capital budget for the next two years I can advise that the total Roads Service capital budget in 2007/08 is £112M. However, this budget has not yet been allocated to our Divisions. The 2008/09 budget is outside the current budget period and cannot be confirmed.

Roads

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the  (a) budget and  (b) timetable is for construction of the Skeoge Link Road in Derry.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Dr Malcolm McKibbin, dated 25 May 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what the (a) budget and (b) timetable is for construction of the Skeoge Link Road in Derry. I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	I can confirm that good progress is being made by Roads Service to secure the delivery of the Skeoge Link Road in Derry. The road is to be constructed to dual carriageway standard at an estimated cost of £5 million.
	The Notice of Intention to make a Vesting Order was published in March 2006 and no objections to the Notice were received. The Scheme was passed for planning approval at a meeting with Derry City Council on 16 May 2006 and discussions are ongoing with developers to complete the statutory agreements.
	Roads Service has completed the detailed design of the scheme and will be in a position to invite tenders at the end of June 2006. This would enable construction to commence in September. However, this time scale remains dependant on the agreed transfer of lands from the developers, which has still not been secured.
	I would like to assure you of Roads Service's continued commitment to provide this much needed road scheme, which would complete the strategic route from the Foyle Bridge through to Buncrana Road, remove through traffic from Glengalliagh Road, and will also unlock land for further housing and industrial development.

Roads

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much roads maintenance funding has been allocated to each of the district electoral areas in  (a) Down and  (b) Newry and Mourne Council area in each of the last 10 years.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 25 May 2006 
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how much roads maintenance funding has been allocated to each of the district electoral areas in (a) Down and (b) Newry and Mourne Council area in each of the last 10 years.
	I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	First of all I must advise that Roads Service does not maintain details of expenditure on a district electoral area basis. However, such information is available on a district council basis. Details of roads maintenance funding allocated by district council area are only available from 1999/2000 and are detailed in the table below:
	
		
			  £000 
			   Council area 
			   Down  Newry and Mourne 
			 1999/2000 2,328 3,234 
			 2000/01 3,608 4,466 
			 2001/02 4,366 5,456 
			 2002/03 4,641 5,256 
			 2003/04 5,089 5,042 
			 2004/05 7,069 7,567 
		
	
	In providing this information I should explain that the funds available for roads maintenance are allocated to the 4 Roads Service Divisions who, in turn, allocate across district council areas. The resources available for each maintenance activity (resurfacing, patching, gully emptying, grass cutting etc.) are apportioned to district councils using appropriate indicators of need. This ensures, so far as is possible, an equitable distribution of funds.

Water Services

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of the Northern Ireland regional rate revenue is allocated to water services in Northern Ireland in 2006-07.

David Hanson: The regional rate is an un-hypothecated tax and is not allocated to specific areas of expenditure, but instead contributes to the overall resources available to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to allocate to regional public services in Northern Ireland.

PRIME MINISTER

Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister how many representations he has received  (a) supporting and  (b) opposing the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [Lords]; what percentage the latter represents of the former; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: My Office has received a petition containing approximately 100,000 signatures against the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill [Lords].

Departmental Bills (Amendments)

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the occasions when an amendment has been moved by  (a) a Labour backbencher,  (b) an Opposition backbencher and  (c) an Opposition front bench spokesman to a Bill sponsored by his Department that has been accepted by his Department during the current session; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I support all Bills introduced by the Government, however my Office does not have direct responsibility for introducing or taking through the House any individual Bills.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Office in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Office; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Tony Blair: For these purposes my office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. McFadden) today.

Israel

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister when he visited the State of Israel in an official capacity in each year since 1997; what matters were discussed; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Copies of these lists are available in the Library of the House. Information on the number of officials accompanying me on overseas visits is included in the list. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the ministerial code and travel by Ministers. Information for the year 2005-06 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the financial year.
	I have regular discussions with the Israeli Government on a wide range of issues. Transcripts of press conferences I have held are available on the No. 10 website.

Journalists (Foreign Visits)

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Prime Minister which journalists accompanied him on  (a) his recent trip to Iraq and  (b) his trip to Australia and New Zealand in March; and how much each paid for their airfare.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 3 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1675W.

Meetings

David Jones: To ask the Prime Minister whether 
	(1)  he has met  (a) Mr Richard Caring,  (b) Mr Ron Aldridge,  (c) Dr Chai Patel,  (d) Mr Barry Townsley,  (e) Mr Andrew Rosenfeld,  (f) Mr Derek Tullett,  (g) Sir Gulam Noon,  (h) Mr Nigel Morris,  (i) Sir David Garrard and  (j) Sir Christopher Evans on official business at 10 Downing Street in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he has met representatives of Merlin Biosciences Limited on official business in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: My officials and I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Portland PR

Nick Brown: To ask the Prime Minister what meetings officials in his private office have had with Portland PR; what contracts Portland PR has with persons who report directly to him; what contractual relationship exists between the Government and Portland PR which is not covered by the responsibilities of any other Minister in the Government; and what the terms of the contract are in each case.

Tony Blair: My officials and I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Private Members' Bills

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those Private Members' Bills in respect of which his Department adopted a policy of neutrality in each session since 2001-02; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: My Office does not have direct responsibility for individual Private Members Bills.

Public Sector Reform

Mark Francois: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his announcement on 15 May 2006, on public service reform, what guidance he has issued to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on his new role in leading public sector reform.

Tony Blair: I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Reshuffle (Costs)

Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost was of the recent Cabinet reshuffle, broken down by main budget heading.

Tony Blair: The numbers of salaried Ministers is governed by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975. The cost of machinery of Government changes will be met by relevant departments within existing departmental budgets.

Whaling

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he had at the recent EU summit in Vienna with Latin American and Caribbean leaders concerning their countries' voting intentions at the next International Whaling Commission meeting in June; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: While the subject of whaling was not raised at the EU summit in Vienna, this Government's strong opposition to commercial and scientific whaling is well known and Ministers continue to raise the issue at every appropriate opportunity.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

IT Infrastructure

Iain Wright: To ask the Leader of the House what recent assessment the Commission has made of the  (a) effectiveness and  (b) reliability of information technology (i) equipment and (ii) infrastructure provided for hon. Members' constituency offices.

Jack Straw: The Administration Committee monitors the quality of ICT services in the House on behalf of the Leader of the House of Commons. The Committee asks for reports and oral updates from the Parliamentary ICT Service, on a regular basis. The Committee recently received a briefing on the current performance of the VPN service and all Members were informed by email of the outcome of that meeting. The Committee intends to undertake a fuller review of ICT services later in the year.

Private Members' Bills

David Amess: To ask the Leader of the House if he will list those Private Members' Bills on which he or his predecessor has adopted a policy of neutrality in each session since 2001-02; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: So far as I am aware, there have been no such cases. The only recent Private Members' Bill that the Leader of the House (then my predecessor the right hon. Member for Ashfield) has been responsible for responding to, was Clare Short's Armed Forces (Participation in Armed Conflict) Bill, where the Government stance was not neutral. It is rare for the Leader of the House to be the responsible Minister for responding to a Private Member's Bill.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of UK forces in Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: UK forces are deployed in Afghanistan in support of a UN authorised, NATO-led mission, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and as part of the US-led international coalition. We are there to prevent Afghanistan from again harbouring terrorism, to build security and Government institutions, and to support the Afghan Security Forces in combating insurgents and illegally armed groups, all of which remain threats to Afghan security and stability.

Commonwealth Recruits

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of recruits to the Army in each of the last 10 years came from other Commonwealth countries.

Tom Watson: The proportion of those personnel who have entered untrained strength to the Army who have a nationality of a Commonwealth country (excluding UK) are as follows:
	
		
			  Proportion of Commonwealth (excluding the UK) inflow into the untrained strength of the Regular Army 
			  Percentage 
			   Officer  Soldier  Total 
			 1995-96 1.6 0.3 0.4 
			 1996-97 2.1 0.3 0.3 
			 1997-98 1.3 0.2 0.3 
			 1998-99 1.5 0.7 0.7 
			 1999-2000 1.2 2.8 2.7 
			 2000-01 1.5 5.1 4.9 
			 2001-02 1.5 8.1 7.7 
			 2002-03 3.5 12.7 12.2 
			 2003-04 3.3 10.9 10.5 
			 2004-05 4.0 8.8 8.5 
			 2005-06 1.9 5.4 5.1 
			  Notes: 1. The figures are for trained Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, TA and all other Reserves. 2. Figures are based on Untrained Intake into the Army and for soldiers include inflows from Illegal Absence. Rates are based on all inflow regardless of nationality. 3. The nationality given above is that recorded on inflow to the untrained strength and is not necessarily the same as the nationality at birth. 4. Includes inflows only from those with a nationality of a Commonwealth country. It therefore excludes inflows from those with a nationality of UK, UK dependency, Eire and Other Countries.

Defence Information Initiative

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress with the Defence Information Initiative.

Adam Ingram: The transfer of the first group of legacy systems to ATLAS was achieved in August 2005—on time—and the single point of contact 'help desk' facility went live in November 2005. During January 2006 the timing for rollout was re-scheduled to account for changes in Defence planning since earlier contract negotiations. System build has progressed over the last nine months such that, during May, the first Territorial Army sites will go live on the new DII(Future) system.

Departmental Expenditure

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will publish his Department's expenditure plans for 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Adam Ingram: We will publish the Ministry of Defence's expenditure plans before the summer recess.

Hercules Aircraft

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the level of risk to UK military personnel flying in UK Hercules aircraft without anti-explosive foam in conflict zones.

Adam Ingram: We constantly monitor the overall threat to our aircraft and specific research looking at the threats, options for protection and air platform survivability measures is currently under way. Among other issues, this research will review the effectiveness of foam in Hercules fuel tanks. Operational flying can never be a risk free activity but the Air Warfare Centre continually assesses the threats to our aircraft and considers measures to mitigate these risks. The details of these programmes cannot be released as this would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness and security of our armed forces.

Hospitals

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the most recent valuation is of the land and buildings at the Royal Hospital Haslar.

Tom Watson: A valuation of the land and buildings at the Royal Hospital Haslar was undertaken in March 2006.
	I am withholding details of the valuation as release would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Department by unduly influencing the market if and when the properties concerned were sold.

Hospitals

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many surgical and medical treatments were undertaken in respect of  (a) service personnel and  (b) civilians at the Royal Hospital Haslar in the last 12 months, broken down by types of treatments.

Tom Watson: The surgical and medical treatments undertaken at the Royal Hospital Haslar in the 12 month period from 1 April 2005 until 31 March 2006 are as follows:
	
		
			  Service personnel 
			  Category  Number 
			 Chronic Pain 19 
			 Endoscopy 166 
			 Ear, Nose and Throat 24 
			 General Surgery 238 
			 Maxillo-facial 376 
			 Orthopaedic 372 
			 Plastic Surgery 57 
			 Total 1,252 
		
	
	
		
			  Civilians 
			  Category  Number 
			 Chemotherapy 1,107 
			 Chronic Pain 311 
			 Endoscopy 1,903 
			 Ear, Nose and Throat 43 
			 General Surgery 2,733 
			 Maxillo-facial 531 
			 Orthopaedic 6,601 
			 Plastic Surgery 673 
			 Total 13,902

Hospitals

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what  (a) messing,  (b) accommodation and  (c) recreational facilities are available to service personnel based at Birmingham hospitals; and what facilities are planned for the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit at Portsmouth.

Tom Watson: Service personnel employed or undergoing training at Birmingham hospitals are placed on the establishment of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) and are mainly housed in leased accommodation.
	There are currently no dedicated messing facilities for service personnel based at the RCDM, but they do have regular access to facilities at HMS Forward (a local Royal Naval Reserve Unit) and at the police recreation centre in Birmingham. Similarly there are no dedicated recreational facilities, but Service personnel enjoy free use of a number of leisure centres in Birmingham as a result of contractual arrangements in place between the Ministry of Defence and Birmingham City Council.
	With regard to the MOD Hospital Unit (MDHU) in Portsmouth it is planned to have Single Living Accommodation and associated messing facilities in place for 200 Service personnel by 2009. Having identified a number of potential options for meeting this requirement a detailed assessment study is now being undertaken to establish the preferred solution. Service recreation facilities within the Portsmouth area are excellent and will continue to be available to MDHU Portsmouth personnel. Such facilities include the Royal Naval School of Physical Training, HMS Temeraire, which provides a wide range of sports facilities.

Hospitals

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total operating costs were of  (a) each of the Ministry of Defence hospital units and  (b) the Royal Hospital Haslar in the last year for which figures are available; and how the costs for the Royal Hospital Haslar were shared between his Department and the Department of Health.

Tom Watson: The operating costs for Royal Hospital Haslar and each of the Ministry of Defence hospital units (MDHU) for the 2004-05 financial year are set out in the following table. This is the last year for which audited figures are available.
	
		
			  Unit  Operating costs (£ million) 
			 Royal Hospital Haslar 33.547 
			 MDHU Derriford 8.802 
			 MDHU Peterborough 7.822 
			 MDHU Frimley Park 9.376 
			 MDHU Northallerton 7.063 
		
	
	In 2004-05 the costs for Royal Hospital Haslar included the costs of what is now MDHU(Portsmouth), the fort blockhouse support unit, and military retained services. The cost share arrangements between the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health resulted in costs of £7.5 million falling to the Portsmouth hospitals trust for the 2004-05 financial year, with the remaining £26.047 million being the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many requests he has received from commanders in Iraq for additional armoured vehicles during the last 12 months; and what the Government's response was to each request.

Adam Ingram: The force level and composition of British forces in Iraq is formally reviewed on a regular basis. Commanders in Iraq contribute to this process, which may result in adjustments to the number of armoured vehicles. Should any additional requests be received in addition to these regular reviews, they would be considered and actioned accordingly. However, I can confirm that no such requests for additional armoured vehicles have been received in the last 12 months.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which major units of the British Army are based in Iraq; and where in Iraq they are based.

Adam Ingram: Details of the major units deployed to Iraq and where they are based can be found in the following table:
	
		
			  Unit  Location 
			 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards Muthanna 
			 The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish) Maysan 
			 12th Regiment Royal Artillery Basrah and Shaibah 
			 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Shaibah and Baghdad 
			 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) Shaibah 
			 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment Shaibah 
			 1st Battalion The Devon and Dorset Light Infantry Shaibah and Umm Qasr 
			 1st Battalion The Light Infantry Basrah City 
			 33 Engineer Regiment Shaibah 
			 35 Engineer Regiment Shaibah 
			 1 Logistic Support Regiment Shaibah 
		
	
	A composite company of the Territorial Army drawn from the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers and The King's and Cheshire Regiment is also currently based in Basrah.

Iraq

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 4 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1813-14W, on Iraq, whether service by a UK civilian police officer engaged in training Iraqi police officers would qualify for the award of an Iraq Medal.

Tom Watson: A civilian police officer engaged in training Iraqi police officers would not have been sent to Iraq by the Ministry of Defence to work in direct support of the military and would therefore not qualify to receive the MOD Iraq Medal.
	It is possible that such a civilian police officer would qualify to receive a special medal which is to be issued to recognise service by UK civilians in Iraq. This medal has been approved by the Queen and was announced at the end of June 2005 by the Prime Minister. The eligibility criteria for this second Iraq medal currently being considered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and will be announced in due course.

Medals

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2006,  Official Report, column 1272W, on medals, for what reason the report of Lord Guthrie did not explicitly state that the 30-day qualifying period had to be continuous.

Tom Watson: holding answer 23 May 2006
	The report on the meeting of the sub-committee of the Committee on the Grant of Honours Decorations and Medals, which was established to consider the case for a medal for service in the Suez Canal zone in the early 1950s, was produced by the Ceremonial Secretariat at the Cabinet Office. It did not contain and was not intended to contain a detailed account of the eligibility criteria. The main focus of the report was on the justification for the institution of a new medal. It merely indicated that the sub-committee recommended that service of at least 30 days would be required. It did not indicate whether eligible service must be continuous. Neither did the report indicate that it could be aggregated.

Medals

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the 30-day qualifying period for Army personnel to receive the General Service Medal for service in the 1951 to 1954 Suez Canal zone campaign is required to be continuous.

Tom Watson: holding answer 23 May 2006
	Command Paper 5999 was presented to Parliament in October 2003 by the Secretary of State for Defence and laid down the qualifying criteria for the Naval General Service Medal and General Service Medal for service in the Suez Canal zone between 16 October 1951 and19 October 1954. In accordance with standard procedures, a copy was placed in the Library of the House.
	The period of time required to qualify for the medal was identical for all three services and stated that30 days or more continuous service in the qualifying area was necessary to receive the medal.

Medals

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2006,  Official Report, column 1272W, on medals, how many Naval General Service Medals have been awarded to Royal Navy personnel for 30 days service in the Zone; and if he will list the Royal Navy  (a) ships and  (b) other units which spent 30 days serving continuously in the Suez Canal Zone between 1951 and 1954.

Tom Watson: holding answer 23 May 2006
	There has been a total of 2,208 Naval General Service Medals with Canal Zone Clasp awarded to Royal Navy and Royal Marines to date.
	The following table details the Royal Navy ships and units that spent 30 days serving continuously in the Suez Canal Zone between 16 October 1951 and 19 October 1954.
	
		
			  Ship  Dates  Number of days 
			 Barfleur 19 January 1954-21 February 1954 34 
			 Bermuda 17 November 1953-29 December 1953 43 
			 Chaplet 30 June 1954-3 August 1954 35 
			 Cheviot 27 May 1953-7 July 1953 42 
			  19 January 1954-21 February 1954 34 
			 Chevron 15 May 1953-22 June 1953 39 
			 Cleopatra 24 January 1952-24 February 1952 32 
			 Comet 29 June 1954-3 August 1954 36 
			 Cygnet 3 July 1953-11 August 1953 40 
			 Daring 19 January 1953-18 February 1953 31 
			  15 September 1953-20 October 1953 36 
			 Euryalus 2 June 1952-1 July 1952 30 
			 Gambia 17 October 1951-21 November 1951 36 
			  2 July 1953-11 August 1953 41 
			 LCA 1969 12 May 1953-13 July 1954 428 
			 LCT 4001 21 July 1953-25 August 1953 36 
			 LCT 4040 9 September 1952-21 October 1952 43 
			 LCT 4063 9 September 1952-16 October 1952 38 
			  5 December 1953-13 January 1954 40 
			 Liverpool 19 November 1951-19 December 1951 31 
			 Loch Dunveggan 27 January 1952-27 February 1952 32 
			 Magpie 26 February 1952-26 March 1952 30 
			  9 August 1952-28 September 1952 51 
			  5 August 1953-8 September 1953 35 
			  7 March 1954-9 April 1954 34 
			 Manxman 19 March 1953-18 April 1953 31 
			 Marauder 16 May 1953-22 June 1953 38 
			 Mermaid 21 February 1954-25 March 1954 33 
			 Messina (LCT 3043) 7 October 1952-5 November 1952 30 
			 Osiris (Shore base) 16 October 1951-19 October 1954 1,463 
			 Peacock 3 July 1953-6 August 1953 35 
			 Ranpura 17 December 1953-22 January 1954 37 
			 Roebuck 7 December 1953-19 January 1954 44 
			 Saintes 24 October 1953-7 December 1953 45 
			 St. Kitts 27 October 1953-7 December 1953 42 
			 Wakeful 26 September 1953-27 October 1953 32 
			 Wave Protector 20 February 1952-27 March 1952 37 
			 Whirlwind 7 December 1953-19 January 1954 44 
			 Wrangler 14 April 1954-25 May 1954 42

Military Aircraft

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) Canberra, (b) Nimrod and  (c) Tornado GR4A aircraft are (i) in service and (ii) fit for purpose.

Adam Ingram: The following table shows the numbers of Canberra, Nimrod and Tornado GR aircraft that are planned to be in service at the end of March 2007, and that were fit for purpose (FFP) last month.
	
		
			  Aircraft type  Total fleet  Number of Aircraft FFP  (Average for April 2006)( 1) 
			 Canberra(2) 0 n/a 
			 Nimrod(3) 22 15 
			 Tornado GR(4) 139 49 
			 (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) The Canberra fleet is due to be withdrawn from service this year. Because of the small size of the Canberra fleet, FFP is recorded in terms of sorties. (3) Includes Nimrod Rl and Nimrod MR2 aircraft. (4) Tornado GR4A fleet numbers are not recorded separately. 
		
	
	Aircraft are deemed fit for purpose if they are capable of undertaking the required task on a given day. Aircraft are not available for tasking if they are undergoing scheduled maintenance, modification programmes or any other unforeseen rectification work that can arise on a day to day basis. The figures do not reflect the fact that an aircraft assessed as not fit for purpose may be returned to the front line at very short notice to meet the operational need.

Military Vehicles

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many working armoured Land Rovers were in the Army's possession in each year since 2001.

Adam Ingram: Between 2001 and 2006 a fleet of 982 protected Land Rovers has been maintained. However, as it is not the Ministry of Defence policy to have the whole fleet available to support the front line at all times, vehicles are subject to an ongoing programme of maintenance or repair. The numbers of available Land Rovers is therefore subject to change and the information requested is not held. During the period all operational and training requirements have been met. Those vehicles damaged on operations are either repaired or replaced as necessary.

Nepal

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what direct funding the UK has allocated to the Royal Nepalese Army in 2006-07.

Adam Ingram: Following action in February 2005 by the King of Nepal to assume direct personal rule, UK military assistance to the Royal Nepalese Army was significantly reduced. The funding planned for military assistance this financial year (2006-07) is £7,523,000. It covers human rights training, explosive ordnance disposal equipment and training, help to develop professionalism and aid to develop a military engineering capability. In light of the welcome political changes currently taking place in Nepal, HMG is currently reviewing its policy of assistance to the country.

Nuclear Powered Submarines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the procedure is for dealing with reactor start-up effluent from nuclear powered submarines using X berths; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Effluent is not produced by reactor start up but by the warming up process. Reactor warm up effluent from Swiftsure and Trafalgar class nuclear powered submarines using X berths is dealt with in accordance with standard operating procedures. At HM Naval Base Clyde it is collected in a primary effluent tank and taken for treatment prior to disposal. At HM Naval Base Devonport effluent is collected either directly into the effluent treatment system or in a primary effluent tank and taken for treatment prior to disposal. For Vanguard class submarines (and the Astute class when they enter service) the effluent is kept on board the submarine and reused when the reactor has cooled down.

Nuclear Powered Submarines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with whom responsibility lies for  (a) monitoring of any discharges from nuclear powered submarines using (i) Z berths and (ii) X berths and  (b) clean-up operations which may be required; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Discharges directly to the environment from nuclear powered submarines at Z berths and X berths are not permitted.
	The responsibility for monitoring and clean-up operations, should any be required, rests with the dockyard companies, naval base commanders or the Royal Navy, depending on the location of the berth.
	The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) Environmental Sciences Department monitors the level of radioactive pollution around Z and X berths as part of its wider marine environmental survey programme, the findings from which are published annually.

Priory Clinic Group

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has paid to the Priory Clinic Group for psychiatric services in each of the last five years.

Tom Watson: The Ministry of Defence's contract with the Priory Group, which commenced on 1 April 2004, only provides in-patient care. Community-based care is available to every military unit through our 15 Departments of Community Mental Health, located in military establishments in the UK, with additional satellite units in Germany and Cyprus. Medical diagnosis is performed by fully trained and accredited mental health personnel with a full range of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) platinum standard psychiatric treatments. These help to ensure better access to mental health support within or close to an individual's unit or home. Community-based psychiatry also means Defence Medical Service mental health staff work within their local service community, and so are more closely aligned with their operational role.
	The following table gives the sums paid by MOD to the Priory Group since April 2004, plus costs for interim services provided by the Priory Group between December 2003 and the start of the current contract. This figure takes into account the cost of assessing patients as well as any treatment programmes provided. The Priory contract replaced the care provided by the Duchess of Kent Psychiatric Hospital whose costs in its final year of operation were some £10 million.
	
		
			  Financial year  Amount spent (£) 
			 2003-04 357,877 
			 2004-05 4,147,963 
			 2005-06 4,441,181 
			 2006 to date 379,283 
			 Total 9,326,304

Priory Clinic Group

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether military psychiatric services were contracted to the Priory Clinic Group without open tender, with particular reference to an opportunity for the NHS to submit a bid.

Tom Watson: The requirement for the provision of a regionally based in-patient psychiatric healthcare service was put out to competitive tender by the Ministry of Defence Commercial Branch in Glasgow in accordance with MOD policy. During the tendering process, an Industry Day was held on 15 April 2003, attended by four out of the five companies who had originally responded to the relevant adverts. Subsequently, Invitations to Tender were issued to three of the four companies who had attended the Industry Day. The Priory Group's tender best met our requirements for high quality in-patient care, without delay and on a regional basis, and they were awarded the contract. Whilst NHS providers did have the opportunity to bid, there were no expressions of interest from the NHS.

Private Finance Initiative

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2005,  Official Report, columns 242-3W, on the private finance initiative, what total value of assets and liabilities for each of the listed private finance initiatives and public private partnerships is recorded on the Government Balance Sheet; what proportion of assets and liabilities is listed; what the accounting treatment is for assets and liabilities; and whether it is compatible with  (a) generally-accepted accounting practices and  (b) international financial reporting standards.

Adam Ingram: 10 projects are on the Ministry of Defence Balance Sheet from the 49 Private Finance Initiative Projects (PFI) listed in my reply of 13 June 2005,  Official Report, column 16W. The following table provides details of the 10 On Balance Sheet projects, their asset and liability values and values of these projects expressed as a proportion of the Department totals. The financial data given in the Table accords with the data published in the MOD Annual Reports & Accounts 2004-05.
	
		
			  MOD On Balance sheet PFI projects—FY 2004-05 
			   £ 
			  Project Title  Asset  Liability 
			 Defence Animal Centre (DAC) 16,571,955 9,539,917 
			 Defence Electronic Commerce Service (DECS) 2,008,906 4,143,061 
			 Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) 80,683,442 52,172,982 
			 Field Electrical Power Supplies (FEPS) 69,505,570 71,430,255 
			 Heavy Equipment Transporters (HET) 58,398,745 54,908,345 
			 Joint Services Command and Staff College—Excluding DHE Off Balance Sheet Element 77,823,858 47,698,992 
			 Main Building Refurbishment 342,930,295 342,930,295 
			 Naval Communications 56,982,073 57,595,523 
			 RAF Fylingdales (Power) 4,871,389 5,127,508 
			 RAF Lossiemouth Family Quarters 23,821,492 22,611,409 
			 Total 733,597,725 668,158,286 
			 Proportion percentage of all MoD 0.72 4.08 
		
	
	The Storage Facilities PFI Project has never resided on the MOD Balance Sheet; it resides on the DTI Balance Sheet.
	The Accounting Treatment judgements applied to assets and liabilities are based on:
	Accounting Standards Board's Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 5 (entitled "Reporting the Substance of Transactions")
	Accounting Standard Board's Application Note F (entitled "FRS5 —Reporting the Substance of Transactions: Private Finance Initiative and Similar Contracts; and
	HM Treasury Private Finance Taskforce's Technical (TTF) Note No 1 (How to Account for PFI transactions), ("the Treasury or TTF Guidance").
	The objective of the Technical Note (TN) is to provide additional practical guidance to public sector bodies on certain areas of the Application Note to ensure that the overarching principles of the Application Note are consistently applied.
	The Accounting Treatment judgements are made in compliance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (UKGAAP). International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have not yet been adopted by HMG for Public Sector reporting.
	It should be noted that differences between asset and liability valuations arise due to timing differences emanating from respective write down procedures; Assets are written down on a straight line basis whereas financial liabilities are written down on an actuarial or equivalent basis in accordance with MoD accounting guidance.

Private Members' Bills

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those Private Members' Bills in respect of which his Department has adopted a policy of neutrality in each session since 2001-02; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Watson: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

RAF Heavy Lift

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to augment the RAF's heavy lift capability.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 22 May 2006
	We keep our airlift capability under review to ensure that we have access to sufficient capacity to support operations and, where necessary, we charter heavy lift aircraft. We plan to purchase from Boeing the four in-service C-17s currently on lease, and we are looking at the possibility of purchasing a fifth, though we have not yet made a final decision. The RAF's lift capability will also be considerably enhanced when the A400M comes into service early in the next decade.

Training Areas

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many tactical training areas there are in the West Midlands region.

Tom Watson: There are seven training areas in total in the West Midlands, of which only three are designated as tactical training areas. These are at Swynnerton, Nesscliff and Leek/Upper Hulme.

Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent research has been commissioned by his Department into the development of unmanned combat aerial vehicles.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is pursuing a twin-track strategy for exploring the conceptual thinking and the underlying technology for unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs).
	The first strand of this strategy concentrates on the concepts of employment, interoperability and cost effectiveness of UCAVs with specific emphasis on a UK/US coalition warfare environment. This work is being carried out as a collaborative Government-to-Government project arrangement under the auspices of the US Joint Unmanned Combat Air System Programme (J-UCAS) and began in March 2005.
	The second strand ensures we continue to work with UK industry to develop and explore critical technologies which have relevance to all types of Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (such as survivability, propulsion and vehicle management). Central to this, and as set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, will be a Technology Demonstrator Programme. Subject to a satisfactory value for money proposal, we hope to proceed with this later this year. It will be aimed at giving us and industry a better understanding of our indigenous capabilities, to inform any potential acquisition by the UK of a future UCAV capability.

Veterans Day

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the  (a) merits and  (b) timing of a Veterans' Day (i) prior to and (ii) after the decision was announced.

Tom Watson: holding answer 20 March 2006
	HM Treasury and Defence Ministers regularly discuss issues relating to defence and security matters, including measures to ensure Veterans receive the recognition they deserve. One such discussion, which had been informed by prior consultation with the Confederation of British Service and Ex-Service Organisations (COBSEO) led to the announcement on 13 February by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer about Veterans Day. The announcement had been preceded by a joint presentation of medals to Veterans by the Chancellor and the then Secretary of State for Defence.

Veterans Day

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department first announced the decision to hold a Veterans' Day; and how the decision was announced.

Tom Watson: holding answer 20 March 2006
	The institution of a Veterans Day was announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 13 February 2006 in a speech he made at the Royal United Services Institute. The then Minister for Veterans wrote to hon. Members on 23 February to advise them that Veterans Day would be on 27 June each year.
	Last year's Veterans Awareness Week, which culminated in the memorable celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, gave us all a chance to pay tribute to those veterans who fought in the service of their country and to remember their immense sacrifice and the debt that we continue to owe to them.
	This year the day will focus on veterans of all ages and provide the opportunity to celebrate and raise public awareness of their diversity, achievements and the contribution they have made, and continue to make, to the nation. It will also be an opportunity to recognise the service given by our current armed forces who will become tomorrow's veterans.
	We are encouraging organisations throughout the UK to support Veterans Day through their own events, and we are targeting school children, in particular those in the 9-11 age bracket who are currently learning about World War II, through an art competition.

HEALTH

Allergy UK

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department has given to Allergy UK in each of the last three years; for what purposes; what plans she has to give further assistance; what recent discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have had with Allergy UK; when (i) Ministers and (ii) officials have attended a meeting of Allergy UK in each of the last three years; when her Department has (A) distributed copies of the Allergy UK Annual Report and (B) made reference to Allergy UK in Department of Health materials; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Allergy UK, in common with other national voluntary organisations working in the health and social care fields, is eligible to apply for funding under the Department's Section 64 general scheme of grants.
	In 2002, Allergy UK was awarded a grant of £112,800 over a three-year period to support their network allergy project. The aim of this project was to support the increased involvement of patients, including those from minority ethnic and other hard to reach groups, in the development of local allergy services.
	A further project, "Support Contacts", has been awarded funding of £117,000 over a three-year period from 2004-05. The grant is supporting a national network of people with allergies who can offer support and advice to others affected by their own particular condition.
	Funding for Section 64 grants is limited though the Department continues to welcome innovative proposals that are of national significance, complement statutory services, and help secure and promote high-quality health and social care in England.
	No invitations have been received by Ministers or officials to attend meetings of Allergy UK. As part of the ongoing review into allergy services, officials met with Allergy UK in November 2005. The final report of the review to Ministers will include evidence provided by Allergy UK.
	It is not a function of the Department to distribute copies of the annual report of external organisations, whom we would expect to have their own distribution arrangements in place.
	All departmental publications, leaflets and other sources of information are published on the internet, either on the Department's website itself (www.dh.gov.uk), other departmental sites, or partner websites. Contributions by external organisations to these publications are acknowledged within their content.

Patient Pathway Target

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the document "Tackling hospital waiting: the 18 week patient pathway", when she expects the action plan to cut waiting times for audiology to be published;
	(2)  what progress is being made in measuring waiting times for NHS hearing aid services; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  pursuant to the document "Tackling hospital waiting: the 18 week patient pathway", what measures her Department will put in place to ensure that direct access referrals for audiology are not re-routed to ear, nose and throat consultants.

Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect waiting time data for hearing aid services. However, since January 2006 we have been collecting waiting time and activity data for 15 diagnostic tests/procedures, including pure tone audiometry.
	As stated in the publication "Tackling hospital waiting: the 18 week patient pathway-an implementation framework" directly accessed audiology including adult hearing services are outside the scope of the 18 week patient pathway. However, a separate action plan is currently under consideration to improve access to those services outside the 18 week programme. The intention is to develop and take the work forward in partnership with stakeholders.
	The Department estimates that 80 per cent. of referrals to adult hearing services from general practitioners are direct to audiology departments. We acknowledge the risk that there may be pressure to redirect these existing direct referrals to ear, nose and throat consultants in secondary care, as this way patients would be covered by the 18 weeks target. The measures that are being taken to address this risk are detailed on page 31 of the publication "18 Week Patient Pathway: Delivery Resource Pack", which is available in the Library and on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/46/70/04134670.pdf.

Patient Pathway Target

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what treatments are  (a) subject and  (b) not subject to the 18 week Patient Pathway Target; and for what reasons those in the latter group are not included in each case.

Andy Burnham: The principles and definitions underpinning the delivery of the 18 week Patient Pathway were published on 10 May 2006 in annex A of the publication "Tackling hospital waiting: the 18 week patient pathway-an implementation framework", which is available in the Library and on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/46/69/04134669.pdf
	The principles and definitions set out what is included in the 18 week Pathway. The end of the 18 week Pathway is defined as
	"the start of the first treatment that is intended to manage a person's disease, condition or injury".
	Not all treatments available would be appropriate as a first intervention and it will vary from patient to patient, so it is not possible to provide a list of treatments that are either included or excluded from the target.

Capita

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings  (a) she and  (b) Ministers in her Department have held with directors and senior executives of (i) Capita Group plc and (ii) its subsidiaries since 1 January 2004; and whether (A) Capita Group plc and (B) its subsidiaries have provided input (1) in writing and (2) in person to policy discussions in her Department since 1 January 2004.

Ivan Lewis: The former Minister, Liam Byrne, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Care Services, met with John Tizard of Capita plc on 16 January 2006. Neither the Secretary of State nor the rest of her ministerial team have met with directors and senior executives of Capita plc or its subsidiaries since 1 January 2004.
	Capita plc or its subsidiaries have not been invited to input either in writing or in person to the Department's policy discussions.

Choose and Book System

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of  (a) GPs and  (b) GP practices have (i) registered to use and (ii) indicated an interest in using the new"choose and book" system for hospital appointments from (A) within and (B) outside the pilot areas.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 24 April 2006
	As at 15 May 2006, 35,577 (97 per cent.) of general practitioners (GPs) had registered to use the "choose and book" service and been issued with chip and pin style "smartcards" to enable them to do so.
	As at 16 May 2006, 5,073 (60 per cent.) GP practices had gone live with the 'choose and book' service, defined as having made at least one booking.
	As at 17 May 2006, over 344,000 referrals had been made through the "choose and book" service. These bookings come from 300 of the 303 primary care trusts (PCTs) in England, which demonstrates a significantly larger usage of the system than the six PCTs that were "early adopters" or pilots of "choose and book".
	The implementation team is now in the process of rolling out the system nationally across England.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received cognitive behavioural therapy through the national health service in the last period for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not centrally available.

Departmental Budget

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the budget for her Department remained unspent in the 2005-06 financial year.

Andy Burnham: The Department's 2005-06 financial outturn position will be published in the "Public Expenditure Outturn" White Paper in July 2006.

Departmental Staff

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of  (a) staff and  (b) new staff employed in (i) her Department and (ii) each of the agencies for which she has responsibility were registered as disabled in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Staff recorded as disabled, 2004 to 2006 
			   1 April 2004  1 April 2005  1 April 2006 
			   Disabled  Percent of disabled ( 1)  Disabled  Percent of disabled ( 1)  Disabled  Percent of disabled ( 1) 
			 Department of Health 140 7.1 100 6.5 116 6.0 
			 Medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency 10 1.0 7 0.8 9 1.1 
			 National health service estates 10 3.4 — — — — 
			 National health service pensions agency 10 4.1 — — — — 
			 National health service purchasing and supply agency 10 2.5 — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  New staff employed; registered as disabled, 2003-04 to 2005-06 
			 Financial year  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			   Disabled  Percent of disabled  Disabled  Percent of disabled  Disabled  Percent of disabled 
			 Department of Health 3 2.9 12 7.1 — — 
			 Medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency — — — — 2 22 
			 National health service purchasing and supply agency — — — — — — 
			  Notes: (1). Proportions are based on staff whose disability status is known; unknown values are excluded.

Drug Treatment

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals from Suffolk have entered drug rehabilitation treatment in each of the last five years.

Andy Burnham: The table shows how many individuals from Suffolk entered drug rehabilitation treatment between 2003 and 2005.
	
		
			   Number of individuals 
			 2003-04 1,075 
			 2004-05 1,340 
		
	
	The National Treatment Agency introduced a revised and more accurate methodology for counting the numbers in treatment in October 2004. Figures are not available for the years 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 although the potential for providing estimates based on data collected using the earlier methodology is being explored.

Health Service Staff (Northamptonshire)

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) hospital doctors,  (b) nurses,  (c) general practitioners and  (d) other health service staff were employed in Northamptonshire in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2005.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  National health service hospital and community health services: NHS staff employed in the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland strategic health authority (SHA) area by specified staff groups as at 30 September each specified year 
			  Headcount 
			   1997  2005 
			 Total NHS staff 28,276 35,869 
			 HCHS doctors(1) 1,611 2,360 
			 General medical practitioners (excluding retainers)(2) 908 1,021 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff including practice nurses 8,626 11,002 
			 Other NHS staff 17,131 21,486 
			 (1) Excludes hospital medical practitioners and hospital medical clinical assistants, most of whom are general practitioners (GPs) working part time in hospitals (2) General medical practitioners, excluding retainers and registrars, includes contracted GPs, GMS others and PMS others. Prior to September 2004 this group included GMS unrestricted Principals, PMS contracted GPs, PMS salaried GPs, restricted principals, assistants, salaried doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS others, flexible career scheme GPs and GP returners.  Note: Data as at 30 September each year except GP and practice nurse data as at 1 October 1997  Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care general and personal medical services statistics The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce statistics The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census

Hospital Bed Days

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) emergency and  (b) non-emergency bed days there were in (i) England and (ii) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information has been placed in the Library. Care and treatment needs have changed considerably in this period and will continue to do so.

Infant Mortality

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made to date in meeting the 10 per cent. reduction target in the gap in infant mortality rates between routine and manual socio-economic groups in  (a) Peterborough,  (b) the Eastern Region and  (c) England; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Infant mortality has fallen for the whole population since the 1997-99 target baseline, including for routine and manual groups.
	The target is not formally monitored at local or regional level as the annual number of infant deaths in the routine and manual group in a local area would be very small. Even after aggregating a number of years' data, the rates would show fluctuations over time too large for them to be statistically reliable.
	The latest available national data for England and Wales is for the period 2002-04. This indicates that the overall infant mortality rate for all those within a valid socio-economic group was 4.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, and the rate for those in routine and manual groups was 5.9 per 1,000 live births. The rate is 19 per cent. higher among the routine and manual group compared to the whole population. This rate is unchanged since 2001-03.
	The implementation of the children's national service framework for children, young people and maternity services, the priority being given to tackling health inequalities and greater local focus in "Choosing Health, Our health, our care, our say", and the national health service reforms will deliver significant progress in tackling this target as part of a continuing overall reduction in infant mortality.

Information Technology

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the ability of the NHS IT programme to respond to developments in information technology.

Caroline Flint: The national programme for information technology's (NPfIT) services and systems are based on modern, robust tools and technologies which have been tried and tested widely in business and in the IT industry. They are based on industry standard platforms that have been underpinned by enterprise wide arrangements that achieved large cost savings for the taxpayer and the national health service with market leading IT products from Microsoft, Oracle, Sun, Novell and others. They use industry standards in whose development the Department's NHS connecting for health agency takes an active role, where appropriate.
	NPfIT contracts specify service requirements and service levels rather than the underlying technical components. However, each contract contains an obligation for innovation and to keep up to date the technology employed including, as a minimum, a refresh of the relevant hardware and software platforms. Selection of the programme's suppliers was in part informed by their technical development plans and track record for continuing product development. In that way, the applications and technologies procured will not remain static but keep pace with functional needs and technical developments.
	NHS connecting for health, under its research services contract with Gartner, maintains an awareness of emerging technology. The agency has also held a technology innovation forum involving contracted IT suppliers and those with whom enterprise-wide arrangements are in place to promote technical innovation for the NHS. In specific areas where patient safety, infection control or clinical utility is an issue, or where innovation to address new policy requirements is needed, NHS connecting for health has taken an active role in the definition of standards in hardware and software to meet these requirements.
	In addition, an active programme of research and development is delivered on behalf of the programme by leading industry partners. This brings together the skills of the IT industry, the opportunities offered by NHS connecting for health, and NHS research and development skills to develop and evaluate new products and services of use to the NHS and of global interest. Its objective is to stimulate, support and evaluate innovations in the use of IT to improve patient experience, clinical practice and the process of care that could be generally used when the full functionality of the NPfIT will be universally available.

Maternity Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for issuing guidance on home birth maternity services; and whether the Healthcare Commission will be producing that guidance.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence are developing clinical guidelines on "Intrapartum Care: Management and delivery of care to women in labour". The guideline will cover the appropriate place of birth, including care of women giving birth at home.
	Under the provisional schedule, a stakeholder consultation on the draft guideline will be held between 22 June and 29 August 2006, with the final guideline being issued in February 2007.

Migraine

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research she has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on migraine; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Innovation.
	The MRC is not currently funding research specifically relating to migraine. However, a strategic grant award to Dr. Leone Ridsdale, King's College, London for a prospective study on diagnostic management referral and one year outcome for patients with headache in primary care has recently been completed. The aim of this study was to provide evidence about the accuracy of diagnosis, the prognosis, reasons for referral, and the economic costs for patients and society.
	The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service and through its health technology assessment programme has supported a pragmatic, randomised trial into the use of acupuncture for migraine and headache in primary care; and a randomised placebo controlled trial of propranolol and Pizotifen in preventing migraine in children.
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by NHS organisations. Details of individual projects, including a number concerned with migraine, are available on the national research register at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/research

Ministerial Visits

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many official visits each Minister in her Department has made to  (a) dental practices,  (b) opticians,  (c) pharmacies,  (d) general practitioner surgeries,  (e) care homes,  (f) community hospitals,  (g) genito-urinary medicine clinics,  (h) ambulance trusts, (i) mental health trusts,  (j) rehabilitation services and  (k) stroke units since May 2005; and what the purpose was of each visit.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested, up to and including March 2006, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   SofS  MS(HS)  MS(R)  MS(DQ)  MS(PH)  PS(CS) 
			 Dental practices 1 7 — — — — 
			 Opticians 1 7 — — — — 
			 Pharmacies 2 — — 4 — — 
			 General practitioner surgeries (1)4 — (2)8 — — — 
			 Care homes — — — — — 8 
			 Community hospitals 2 — 1 — — — 
			 Genito-urinary medicine clinics 1 — — — 3 — 
			 Ambulance trusts — — 4 — — — 
			 Mental health trusts 2 4 — — — 4 
			 Rehabilitation services — 4 — — 4 8 
			 Stroke units — — — — — 1 
			  Notes:  (1). Including 1 primary care centre  (2. )All PCCs SofS - Secretary of State for Health MS(HS) - Minister of State for Health MS(R) - Minister of State for Reform MS(DQ) - Minister of State for Delivery and Quality MS(PH) - Minister of State for Public Health PS(CS) - Parliamentary Under Secretary for Care Services 
		
	
	Ministerial visits and staff engagement are a key component of the Department's communication strategy. The purpose of visits is to gain a greater understanding of the challenges and successes experienced by staff, patients, carers and users in the national health service and social care economy. Visits also provide an opportunity to engage with frontline staff and patients.

Neo-natal Nursing

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many neo-natal nursing staff are employed in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire strategic health authority area.

Andy Burnham: The number of neo-natal nursing staff employed in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire strategic health authority (SHA) is not collected centrally.
	The numbers of qualified maternity nursing staff, including neo-natal nurses in the SHA area, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  National health service hospital and community health services: qualified maternity nursing staff in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA area by organisation as at 30 September 2005 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA 1,387 
			 Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 338 
			 Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust 100 
			 Huntingdonshire PCT 11 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 228 
			 James Paget Healthcare NHS Trust 86 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust 119 
			 Norfolk And Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust 237 
			 Peterborough Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 165 
			 West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust 103 
			  Source:  The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census 2005

NHS Appointments Commission

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 16 November 2005,  Official Report, column 1299W, on Gloucestershire Primary Care Trusts, from what date the NHS Appointments Commission gained responsibility for the appointment of chairs and board members of primary care trusts; and what criteria she used to assess the suitability of the candidates before she appointed the  (a) Chairman and  (b) non-executive directors of the West Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust prior to that date;
	(2)  whether the NHS Appointments Commission will appoint all the chairmen and board members of the new primary care trusts; what criteria will be used to make those appointments; and what timetable will be followed.

Rosie Winterton: holding answers 24 May 2006 and 23 May 2006
	The NHS Appointments Commission was established in April 2001 and began making appointments to the national health service bodies in 2002. I can confirm that the NHS Appointments Commission will be appointing all the chairmen and non-executive board members of the new primary care trusts (PCTs). I have asked the Commission's chairman to write to the hon. Member setting out the criteria that have been used to make PCT appointments, those used for the new PCTs and the timetable for the appointments.

NHS Finances

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1175W, on NHS finances, what responsibility the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority has with regard to the financial management of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Caroline Flint: Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority (SHA) has no formal responsibility over financial management of national health service foundation trusts (NHSFTs). SHAs no longer performance-manage NHSFTs. As independently regulated organisations, the board of directors of a NHSFT is responsible for the organisation's performance.

NHS Finances

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1175W, on NHS finances, whether the Department of Health requires the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority to achieve financial balance in 2006-07, including clearing accumulated deficits from prior years.

Caroline Flint: The new strategic health authority (SHA) boundaries were announced on 12 April 2006. From 1 July 2006, the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA will form part of the South West SHA.
	The Department is currently in discussion with the constituent parts of the new South West SHA about their 2006-07 financial plan which will contribute to financial balance across the national health service in 2006-07.

NHS Supplies Market

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the supplies market within the NHS will be controlled and regulated; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department's policy on the procurement of goods and services in or on behalf of the national health service is based on value for money, having due regard to propriety and regularity and ensuring full compliance with the European Union public procurement directive and other regulatory requirements. The directive promotes equal treatment, transparency and competitive procurement.
	Owing to the complexity and variety of products and services within the NHS supplies market detailed management is ultimately based on a case by case basis against the background of the specific category market.
	However the structure of the Department and of the NHS means that the relevant bodies will work together to ensure that key purchasing and supply performance measures are integrated into the overall management of NHS performance.

NHS Treatment (Scottish Residents)

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people normally resident in Scotland received NHS treatment in England in 2005.

Andy Burnham: Approximately 5,314(1) people normally resident in Scotland received national health service treatment in England in 2004-05.
	(1 ) Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.

Over-the-Counter Medicines Initiative

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the progress of the "Better regulation for over-the-counter medicines" initiative.

Andy Burnham: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement published in the House on 23 May 2006.

Oxycodone Hydrochloride

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the market share distribution for the supply of oxycodone hydrochloride; what steps are being taken to increase the number of suppliers; and when she expects more suppliers to enter the market.

Andy Burnham: Napp is currently the only company marketing oxycodone hydrochloride products in the United Kingdom. It is a commercial decision for any company to enter a particular market. The Department has no information regarding new suppliers entering the market.

Private Finance Initiative

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the debt of those hospitals which are in deficit and those hospitals which have been in deficit over the last two complete years for which figures are available is accounted for by the annual private finance initiative charge.

Andy Burnham: The table provides details of unitary payments and deficits from the audited accounts for private finance initiative (PFI) schemes for the last two complete years.
	There is no direct correlation between a trust meeting its PFI unitary charge and incurring a deficit, as the following table shows. Unitary payments—paid for from a trust's general revenue allocations—include elements for hard and soft facilities management services, financing costs as well as ensuring the availability of the facility, and are just one component of a trust's total expenditure.
	
		
			2003-04  2004-05 
			  Commissioning body  Capital value (£ million)  Unitary payment (£ million)  Surplus/deficit (£000)  Unitary payment (£ million)  Surplus/deficit (£000) 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals 54 20.686 -4,398.000 21.203 0 
			 Berkshire Healthcare National Health Service Trust 30 4.206 -851.000 4.311 1 
			 Buckinghamshire Hospitals 45 10.813 -5,237.000 11.083 2,518 
			 Dartford and Gravesham Hospital 94 19.059 61.000 19.535 -1,146 
			 Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust 64 11.092 -18.000 11.370 20 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals(1) 22 2.000 17.000 2.050 -5,461 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Trust 76 17.501 182.000 18.374 -2,734 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust(1) 14 — -309.000 0.646 178 
			 North Cumbria Acute Hospitals 67 13.353 -4,133.000 13.687 13 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 96 19.455 917.000 19.941 -9,186 
			 Queen Mary's Hospital Sidcup 15 1.938 41.000 1.987 -4,608 
			 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 26 — -1,593.000 0.263 -7,806 
			 South Tees Acute Hospital 122 26.170 -1,712.000 26.824 -8,898 
			 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 46 7.327 -650.000 7.629 -21,656 
			 The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals 13 0.140 -7,612.000 3.106 -9,016 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital 60 9.700 137.000 10.500 -3,991 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals 87 18.739 -12,801.000 19.207 2 
			 (1) Hard facilities management only therefore lower unitary payments compared to the rest of the table.

Primary Care Trusts

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what she expects the impact on primary care trust finances to be of the move to payment by results in areas where acute trusts are most efficient; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 24 May 2006
	Primary care trusts (PCTs) that have historically paid less than the national average cost will pay more for activity covered by payment by results, whereas PCTs that have been paying above national average cost will pay less. In 2006-07, allocations to PCTs have been adjusted to help smooth the impact of this change in expenditure.

Primary Care Trusts

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expected costs are of the implementation of the new configuration of primary care trusts in Bedfordshire; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Total costs are dependent on a number of factors, including the number of new organisations, the number of people in the new organisations, new pay ranges for very senior managers, as well as changes in estate costs following reconfiguration.
	For these reasons, it is not possible to give definite costs.
	We anticipate, however, that the reconfiguration of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire will save £7 million.

Primary Care Trusts

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received about the impact of the new configuration of primary care trusts in Bedfordshire on the financial deficit of Bedfordshire Heartlands; what impact she expects the new configuration to have on the deficit; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Ministers have received a range of representations about primary care trust (PCT) reconfiguration in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. However, no representations have been received about the impact of PCT reconfiguration on the financial deficit of Bedfordshire Heartlands.
	We anticipate that the reconfiguration of strategic health authorities (SHAs) and PCTs in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire will save £7 million.
	SHAs and PCTs are currently drawing up plans to achieve financial balance and these will be reviewed by the Department in June.

Runaway Children

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to safeguard the health of children and young people who run away or go missing from home or care.

Ivan Lewis: The "Every child matters: change for children" programme, a joint programme between the Department and the Department for Education and Skills, sets out the national framework for local change programmes to build services around the needs of children and young people. "Change for children" is particularly concerned with targeting support on children most at risk of negative outcomes, such as those associated with running away or going missing. As part of this programme, the Children Act 2004 reforms place a duty on a range of health bodies to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and to co-operate with local authorities to improve integrated working arrangements so that key people and bodies are working towards shared outcomes.
	The national service framework for children, young people and maternity services published in September 2004 is a 10-year programme also intended to stimulate long-term and substantial improvement in children's health and in the better outcomes that are the result of better health. The Department will be seeking to make health an integral part of the everyday services that young people use.
	It is possible for any child or young person to access national health service primary medical services by registering as a patient with a local general practitioner practice. Where a child is being registered, an application may be made on their behalf by a parent or other person who has parental responsibility for them. It is also possible to access primary care services through a NHS walk-in centre or NHS Direct where there is no need to register.
	Services in all primary care trust areas, including primary, community, specialist and acute services, need to take account of young people's needs. By creating services centred around the needs of children and families and ensuring that every child achieves their potential, these reforms will close the gap between those who do well and those who do not, including, for example, children and young people who run away or go missing from home or care.

Section 64 Grants

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis the decision was made to withhold the full payment of section 64 awards to charities in Loughborough; and when charities with two or three-year grants will receive full payment.

Ivan Lewis: Voluntary and community sector organisations with continuing section 64 grants will receive quarterly instalments during 2006-07 providing they have complied with the terms and conditions of the award. Full payment in 2006-07 will not be made until the final quarterly instalment is paid in January 2007.
	Payment of the first quarterly instalment due in April 2006 was delayed while a departmental central budget review took place. This has now concluded and outstanding payments made. Interim payments were offered to minimise financial risk.
	A decision to withhold full payments for an individual organisation would be made on a case by case basis.

Section 64 Grants

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations her Department has received from grant applicants based in Leicestershire about the time taken for section 64 grant decisions to be made.

Ivan Lewis: There is no record of any direct representation from either of the two grant applicants based in Leicestershire about the time taken for grant decisions to be made.

Sexual Health

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to reduce  (a) unplanned pregnancies and  (b) sexually transmitted diseases; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 21 March 2006,  Official Report, column 250W.
	Measures to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were set out in the National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV (200l) and the public health White Papers Choosing Health (November 2004) and Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services (January 2006), which are available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk.
	Sexual health and access to genito-urinary medicine clinics is one of the six top priorities for the NHS in 2006-07. By 2008 everyone should be offered an appointment within 48 hours of contacting a genito-urinary medicine clinic. Strategic health authorities have all submitted plans to meet this target.
	In addition to these national measures, primary care trusts are responsible for providing sexual health services which meet the needs of their local populations. To support them in this role, the Department, working with professional bodies, has published recommended standards for sexual health service a toolkit of best practice for sexual health promotion, and guidance on commissioning.

Sexual Health

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the use of condoms on the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: We have assessed the domestic and international evidence for the impact of condom use on the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). For example, in the early 1990s, the Thai Government implemented a 100 per cent. condom programme to encourage sex workers to increase their use of condoms in commercial sex facilities. Rojanapithayakorn and Hanenberg (1996) reported that there was a substantial increase in the proportion of reported commercial sex acts in which condoms were used, i.e. from 25 per cent. in 1989 to 94 per cent. in 1995. During this period, the incidence of curable STIs reported in Government clinics decreased dramatically, which was coupled with a decrease in the prevalence of HIV among Thai military recruits.
	Evidence such as this, has been used to guide the brief for the forthcoming sexual health campaign, which will focus on the risks of unprotected sex and the benefits of using condoms to avoid the risk of STIs or unintended pregnancies.

Sexual Health

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent in each year since 1997 on free contraception in areas with high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: This information is not held centrally.
	We have asked primary care trusts (PCTs) to complete the first ever national questionnaire of contraceptive services. This has provided PCT sexual health leads and commissioners of contraceptive services with an audit tool to map their current service provision and to highlight gaps in local services so that they can develop contraceptive services that meet their local population needs. To support them in this role, the Department is investing 40 million over the next two years (20 million in both 2006-07 and 2007-08) to improve access to contraceptive services and to the full range of methods.
	Improving access to free contraception, including condoms, to avoid the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or unplanned pregnancies is one of the key aims of the Government's White Paper Choosing health: making healthy choices easier. Reducing the rate of value added tax on condoms and emergency hormonal contraception from 1 July 2006 will also make the costs of these items more affordable to those who choose not to access free services.

Waiting Times

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the specialities where waiting times have increased to the maximum target waiting time since waiting times were last reviewed, broken down by NHS trust.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is available on the Department's website at
	www.performance.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/index.html, where waiting time data is available broken down by both speciality and national health service trust.

Waiting Times

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2006,  Official Report, column 758W, on waiting times, what definition of very few she uses; and whether very few means  (a) less than 10,  (b) less than 50,  (c) less than 100 or  (d) another amount.

Andy Burnham: Of the 771,100 patients waiting for treatment at the end of March 2006, 199 people had been waiting for longer than six months. This was three patients for every 10,000 waiting for treatmenta figure I would describe as very few.

Waiting Times

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to question 70897, on waiting times, what the maximum period between initial GP diagnosis and operation could be without breaches of the six month target.

Andy Burnham: The waiting time standard is now a maximum of 13 weeks from referral by a general practitioner (GP) to a first out-patient appointment. That consultation may lead to further out-patient appointments and diagnostic tests and currently, these are not subject to waiting time targets. If the hospital consultant then considers that the patient needs to be admitted for treatment, there would be a maximum wait of six months from that point. The target for 2008 will transform this into a maximum wait of 18 weeks from GP referral to the start of treatment.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experimentation

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to encourage the development and validation of alternative methods of scientific experimentation to replace and reduce the use of animal experiments.

Joan Ryan: The Home Office is fully committed to encouraging the development of alternatives to animal experimentation where this is possible. Indeed, under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, we will not license the use of animals in scientific procedures if alternative non-animal techniques are available.
	In addition, the Home Office contributes 250,000 annually to the National Centre for the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) which was established by the Government in May 2004 to co-ordinate and stimulate research and practice in the 3Rs. The NC3Rs funds high-quality 3Rs research and facilitates the exchange of information and ideas, the identification of knowledge gaps, and the translation of research findings into practice to benefit both animals and science. The Centre submits an annual report to the Minister for Science and Innovation on its activities, the first of which was published in January 2006 and is available on their website at:
	www.nc3rs.org.
	Internationally, the United Kingdom Government continues to support the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) through contributions to the European Union. We take a lead in formulating European policies, standards and targets which neither disadvantage the United Kingdom nor drive work abroad to countries where lower standards apply.

Asylum Seekers

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers in Suffolk have  (a) had their application refused and  (b) been removed from the UK in each of the past five years.

Liam Byrne: The number of asylum seekers supported by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) are published on a quarterly and annual basis, broken down by Local Authority. The next publication covering the first quarter of 2006 was published on 23 May 2006, and will be available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
	Data on asylum seekers supported by NASS broken down by parliamentary constituency are also available from the Library of the House.

Asylum Seekers

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers there were in West Suffolk constituency in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) assumed responsibility for the support of asylum seekers on 3 April 2000. The following table shows the numbers of asylum seekers (including dependants) supported by NASS in West Suffolk constituency as at the end of each year (available from December 2003).The number of asylum seekers supported by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) are published on a quarterly and annual basis, broken down by local authority.
	
		
			  Number of asylum seekers (including dependants) supported by NASS in West Suffolk constituency as at the end of each year from December 2003 
			  As at December each year:  In NASS accommodation  In receipt of subsistence only 
			 2003  5 
			 2004  * 
			 2005   
			 * = 1 or 2.  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Asylum Seekers

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers there are in  (a) West Suffolk and  (b) the East of England region.

Liam Byrne: The number of asylum seekers supported by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) are published on a quarterly and annual basis, broken down by Government Office Region and Local Authority. The next publication covering the first quarter of 2006 will be published on the 23 May 2006, and will be available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister for Immigration will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, of 4 April 2006, on behalf of Sakineh Soltan Malek-Mohammadi, wife of Rahmatollah Farahmand (Home Office Reference G1091885, acknowledgement reference B9197/6).

Liam Byrne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood on 19 May 2006.

Drug-related Crime

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of drug-related crime there were in each police authority area in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: There are no figures available specifically on drug-related crime. The available information relates to recorded drug offences only and is given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Recorded crimedrug offences 
			   2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,990 1,860 2,308 2,457 2,739 
			 Bedfordshire 896 1,009 1,069 1,130 1,131 
			 Cambridgeshire 829 798 904 1,047 1,174 
			 Cheshire 1,644 1,591 1,717 1,695 1,546 
			 Cleveland 952 1,109 1,685 1,368 1,45l 
			 Cumbria 949 925 1,038 1,189 1,321 
			 Derbyshire 1,374 1,635 1,877 1,932 2,023 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3,374 4,079 4,516 4,826 4,356 
			 Dorset 1,237 1,390 1,371 1,455 1,577 
			 Durham 1,207 1,317 1,289 1,205 1,062 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1,690 2,407 2,978 2,420 2,327 
			 Essex 2,208 2,212 2,377 2,295 2,328 
			 Gloucestershire 1,293 1,223 1,311 1,288 1,218 
			 Greater Manchester 4,932 4,698 5,667 5,981 6,703 
			 Gwent 2,196 1,729 1,585 1,422 1,332 
			 Hampshire 3,464 3,449 3,938 3,967 3,773 
			 Hertfordshire 1,441 1,350 1,553 1,678 1,754 
			 Humberside 1,342 1,513 1,883 1,874 2,048 
			 Kent 2,940 3,051 3,236 2,795 2,170 
			 Lancashire 3,124 3,169 4,084 3,640 3,411 
			 Leicestershire 1,395 1,705 1,629 1,821 1,942 
			 Lincolnshire 906 1,116 1,060 1,061 951 
			 London, City of 296 469 790 744 876 
			 Merseyside 4,421 4,390 5,419 5,497 5,649 
			 Metropolitan Police 23,626 26,204 33,311 32,332 33,011 
			 Norfolk 1,160 1,211 1,392 1,508 1,602 
			 Northamptonshire 967 958 979 971 1,477 
			 Northumbria 4,238 4,804 6,040 5,414 4,636 
			 North Wales 1,427 1,382 1,830 1,830 1,834 
			 North Yorkshire 1,259 1,491 1,582 1,624 1,690 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,028 2,070 2,352 2,830 2,667 
			 South Wales 3,038 3,907 3,872 3,837 3,705 
			 South Yorkshire 3,521 3,408 3,448 3,191 3,013 
			 Staffordshire 1,623 2,186 2,264 2,586 2,689 
			 Suffolk 1,178 1,292 1,689 1,923 1,974 
			 Surrey 1,858 1,872 1,934 1,689 1,904 
			 Sussex 2,002 2,602 2,665 3,050 3,343 
			 Thames Valley 3,364 4,093 4,903 5,404 6,167 
			 Warwickshire 629 659 751 944 914 
			 West Mercia 2,073 2,109 2,053 2,218 2,278 
			 West Midlands 7,519 7,578 8,828 6,656 7,840 
			 West Yorkshire 4,820 4,297 5,015 5,295 5,666 
			 Wiltshire 1,028 1,076 898 971 1,066 
			  113,458 121,393 141,090 141,060 142,338 
			 (1 )Numbers affected by the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards which came into effect in 2002-03. Data not comparable with earlier years

Embarkation Controls

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the commitment given by his predecessor to reintroduce embarkation controls will be implemented.

Joan Ryan: The five year immigration strategy for asylum and immigration, published in February 2005, contains details of our plans, through the e-Borders programme, to strengthen and modernise our border control including providing an electronic record of all those entering and leaving the UK. This is scheduled to commence in 2008.

Entry Visas

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to identify the persons granted entry visas to the UK in the last five years who have subsequently  (a) applied for asylum on entry and  (b) overstayed the time allowed by the visa; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Government are already committed to detecting those who fail to comply with their conditions of entry, including overstayers. Key initiatives to tackle such immigration abuse include: sharing information with other Government agencies and acting upon any intelligence we receive where appropriate; and targeting embarkation controls at major UK ports to detect immigration offenders who are leaving the UK.
	Roll-out of a programme to capture biometrics details of visa applicants will be completed by 2008. This will enable IND to identify those who applied for a visa and subsequently claim asylum in the UK without documentation. UK Visas' Central Reference System is used to access further details when someone applying for asylum has retained their original documentation and identity.

Foreign Prisoners

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what offences each of the 1,023 foreign national offenders released from prison without consideration for deportation were originally imprisoned.

John Reid: I refer to the written ministerial statement I made on 15 May.

Foreign Prisoners

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the crimes committed by those foreign prisoners released into the community without proper application of the deportation review process.

Liam Byrne: I refer to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 15 May 2006.

IND Contracts

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed by the immigration and nationality directorate on temporary contracts in each of the last five years.

John Reid: The number of people employed on temporary contracts by the immigration and nationality directorate is recorded in the following table. Additionally, the directorate has contracts with employment agencies for the provision of temporary workers and these figures have also been included in order to provide a full picture.
	The figures in the following table show the average numbers of temporary workers in the organisation beginning with the financial year 2002-03. The earliest date for which figures are available is 2002. The final figure relates to 31 March 2006 and represents the latest actual position.
	
		
			   Casual  Agency  Total 
			 2002-03 60 1,232 1,292 
			 2003-04 135 1,170 1,305 
			 2004-05 196 1,002 1,198 
			 2005-06 220 1,303 1,523 
			 2006 239 1,623 1,862

Leave to Remain

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been refused leave to remain in the UK because they did not fulfil the criteria for international protection since the policy came into effect, broken down by ethnic origin; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Where a person is excluded from international protection, we would normally seek to remove them from the United Kingdom, unless to do so would breach our obligations under the European convention on human rights. Under published policy, an excluded person who cannot be removed for legal reasons may either be granted six months' discretionary leave or placed on temporary admission or granted temporary release. Home Office records show that since 30 August 2005, the policy has been applied in a total of 10 cases to keep the individuals concerned on temporary admission or temporary release. Of those cases, nine were Afghan nationals and one was a national of Burundi.
	This information is based on internal management information and as such is not published within the official statistics.

Passports

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of British passports were issued to foreign-born British citizens in each of the last five years.

Joan Ryan: The Identity and Passport Service does not hold readily accessible data about numbers of foreign-born British passport holders.

Passports

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British passports have been issued to  (a) asylum seekers and  (b) those granted indefinite leave to remain in each of the last eight years.

Joan Ryan: British passports cannot be issued to asylum seekers because they do not hold British nationality. The grant of indefinite leave to remain does not qualify a person to hold a British passport.
	A person granted indefinite leave to remain may in due course qualify to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen after meeting the residence and other requirements. Persons granted naturalisation may then apply for British passports. The Identity and Passport Service does not hold readily accessible data about numbers of passports issued to people who have been naturalised and does not hold information on whether such applicants have previously been asylum seekers.

Police

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual cost is of employing  (a) a police officer and  (b) a probation officer in each police authority area; and what the equivalent figure was in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: The answers are given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Constable salaries in England and Wales 
			  September  Non-London minimum salary ()  Non-London maximum salary ()  London minimum salary ()  London maximum salary ()  Employment costs (Percentage)  Total cost (non-London) of minimum salary ()  Total cost (non-London) of maximum salary ()  Total cost (London) of minimum salary ()  Total cost (London) of maximum salary () 
			 2001 17,733 28,062 23,844 34,173 24.6 22,095 34,965 29,710 42,580 
			 2002 18,264 28,905 24,429 35,070 24.6 22,757 36,016 30,439 43,697 
			 2003 19,227 30,186 25,446 36,405 24.6 23,957 37,612 31,706 45,361 
			 2004 19,803 31,092 26,079 37,368 24.6 24,675 38,741 32,494 46,561 
			 2005 20,397 32,025 26,730 38,358 24.6 25,415 39,903 33,306 47,794 
		
	
	
		
			  Sergeant salaries in England and Wales 
			  September  Non-London minimum salary ()  Non-London maximum salary ()  London minimum salary ()  London maximum salary ()  Employment costs (Percentage)  Total cost (non-London) of minimum salary ()  Total cost (non-London) of maximum salary ()  Total cost (London) of minimum salary ()  Total Cost (London) of Maximum Salary () 
			 2001 27,084 31,950 33,195 37,701 24.6 33,747 39,810 41,361 46,975 
			 2002 27,897 32,538 34,062 38,703 24.6 34,760 40,542 42,441 48,224 
			 2003 30,186 33,927 36,405 40,146 24.6 37,612 42,273 45,361 50,022 
			 2004 31,092 34,944 37,368 41,220 24.6 38,741 43,540 46,561 51,360 
			 2005 32,025 35,991 38,358 42,324 24.6 39,903 44,845 47,794 52,736 
		
	
	
		
			  Inspector salaries in England and Wales 
			  September  Non-London minimum salary()  Non-London maximum salary ()  London minimum salary ()  London maximum salary ()  Employment costs (percentage)  Total cost (Non-London) of minimum salary ()  Total cost (non-London) of maximum salary ()  Total cost (London) of minimum salary ()  Total cost (London) of maximum salary () 
			 2001 35,034 39,153 42,747 45,840 24.6 43,652 48,785 53,263 57,117 
			 2002 36,084 40,329 43,899 48,150 24.6 44,961 50,250 54,698 59,995 
			 2003 38,639 41,952 46,593 49,878 24.6 48,144 52,272 58,055 62,148 
			 2004 39,840 43,212 47,862 51,246 24.6 49,641 53,842 59,636 63,853 
			 2005 41,034 44,508 49,167 52,653 24.6 51,128 55,457 61,262 65,606 
			  Notes: 1. South-east England allowance: This was introduced on 1 April 2001 for all officers appointed on or after 1 September 1994 and has been paid since 1 April 2001 at the following rate: Essex, Herts, Kent, Surrey, Thames Valley-2,000 p.a. Bedfordshire, Hampshire, Sussex-1,000 p.a. 2. Officers in all three ranks are eligible for a competence-related threshold payment when they have been at the top of the salary scale for 12 months. This payment was worth 1,002 (2003), 1,032 (2004) and 1,062 (2005). 3. Please note the figures in the table do not include the figures above. 
		
	
	
		
			  Probation officer pay in England and Wales 
			   Non-London minimum basic salary ()  Non-London maximum basic salary ()  London weighting ()  London minimum basic salary ()  London maximum basic salary ()  Employment costs (%)  Total cost (not London) of minimum salary ()  Total cost (not London) of maximum salary ()  Total cost (London) of minimum salary ()  Total cost (London) of maximum salary () 
			 2001-02 18,786 25,338 2,652 21,438 27,990 22.92 23,092 31,145 26,352 34,405 
			 2002-03 19,443 26,226 2,745 22,188 28,971 22.92 23,899 32,237 27,273 35,611 
			 2003-04 20,257 27,238 3,000 23,257 30,238 22.92 24,900 33,481 28,588 37,169 
			 2004-05 20,804 27,973 3,081 23,885 31,054 22.92 25,572 34,384 29,359 38,172 
			 2005-06 21,324 28,673 3,420 24,744 32,093 22.92 26,211 35,245 30,415 39,449 
			  Notes: 1. Salaries quoted are for qualified probation officers and exclude allowances. 2. Probation officer pay is determined by national negotiations. 3. Spine point range for probation officers is 107-137. 4. London weighting added where appropriate. 5. Pay in 2001-02 was part of a two year deal from April 2000. 6. Employment costs are 22.92 per cent. of salaries.

Prisons

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of providing  (a) educational facilities,  (b) dental services,  (c) medical services, including costs involved in transporting inmates to and from hospital,  (d) clothing and  (e) food has been in each prison in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Prison Service does not collect information separately on the costs of providing education facilities in English public prisons and the information sought could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Such information is also not available for the Welsh public prisons.
	The Department of Health received 118 million from the Home Office for prison health care costs, including for dentistry, in 2002-03. Some 139.7 million was spent in 2003-04 and 158 million was spent in 2004-05 on medical and psychiatric care for prisoners in England. The allocation for 2005-06 is 175.7 million. The current comparable amount for health care in the Welsh public prisons is 3,395,000. The cost of providing prisoners with escorts for hospital appointments is not available.
	As the cost of providing clothing is included in the overall figure for prisoners' consumables it is not possible immediately to disaggregate it for the English or Welsh public prisons.
	The cost of food for the public prisons in England was 28.625 million for 2003, 36.807 million for 2003-04 and 38.322 million for 2004-05. The 2005-06 budget for food for the Welsh public prisons is 756,000.
	Comparable information for the contracted prisons is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Probation Service

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many throughcare cases held by the probation service in England and Wales  (a) have not been allocated to a named probation officer and  (b) are held nominally by a senior probation officer.

Gerry Sutcliffe: National Standards 2005 state:
	GS3Sentenced cases will be allocated to an offender manager.
	SS3.1Following sentence each case will be assigned to a tier within the National Offender Management Model, be recorded as such and will be allocated to an offender manager. The tiering decision will be based on an OASys assessment where available. For offenders sentenced to custody, allocation should be made within five working days of sentence.
	SS3.2Probation areas will ensure that:
	Tier four and tier three cases are allocated within one working day of sentence.
	Tier two and tier one cases are allocated within a maximum of three working days after sentence.
	Requirements which require commencement before three working days are allocated accordingly.
	Data against this national standard are available from October 2005. Between October 2005 and February 2006, 86 per cent. of cases were allocated an offender manager in accordance with national standards. Data by probation area and region showing the proportion of cases in which the standard was met between October 2005 and February 2006 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  October 2005 to February 2006 
			  Region/area  Percentage of cases meeting the national standard 
			  West Midlands  
			 Staffordshire 89 
			 Warwickshire 100 
			 West Mercia 90 
			 West Midlands 66 
			 West Midlands total 74 
			   
			  North East  
			 County Durham 100 
			 Northumbria 98 
			 Teesside 88 
			 North East total 96 
			   
			  East  
			 Bedfordshire 38 
			 Cambridgeshire 79 
			 Essex  
			 Hertfordshire 89 
			 Norfolk 88 
			 Suffolk 93 
			 East total 80 
			   
			  North West  
			 Cheshire 96 
			 Cumbria 93 
			 Greater Manchester 91 
			 Lancashire 97 
			 Merseyside 97 
			 North West total 94 
			   
			  East Midlands  
			 Derbyshire 90 
			 Leicestershire and Rutland 94 
			 Lincolnshire 100 
			 Nottinghamshire 83 
			 Northamptonshire 90 
			 East Midlands total 92 
			   
			  Yorkshire and Humberside  
			 Humberside 88 
			 North Yorkshire 99 
			 South Yorkshire 94 
			 West Yorkshire 81 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside total 89 
			   
			  South East  
			 Hampshire 91 
			 Kent 95 
			 Surrey 94 
			 Sussex 92 
			 Thames Valley 84 
			 South East total 90 
			   
			  South West  
			 Avon and Somerset 95 
			 Devon/Cornwall 85 
			 Dorset 82 
			 Gloucestershire 77 
			 Wiltshire 100 
			 South West total 88 
			   
			  London  
			 London East 70 
			 London North 67 
			 London South 81 
			 London West 68 
			 London total 72 
			   
			  Wales  
			 Dyfed/Powys 97 
			 Gwent 93 
			 North Wales 90 
			 South Wales 84 
			 Wales total 89 
			   
			 England and Wales 86 
			  Note: CJA orders only Was the case allocated to an offender manager within the required time scale, i.e. within one working day of sentence for offenders on tier 3 and tier 4, or who pose a high or very high risk of serious harm to the public, or whose sentence includes a DRR where the first contact will take place within one working day of sentence; or within three working days of sentence for tier 1 and tier 2? (SS3.2)

Racial Abuse

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of racial abuse in his Department have been  (a) investigated and  (b) upheld in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The figures available for the Department are set out in the table at annex A.
	
		
			   Complaints of racial abuse  Up-held 
			 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 2 1 
			 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 0 0 
			 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 0 0 
			 1 April 2004 to 31 December 2005 1 0 
			 1 January 2005 to 31 March 2005(1) 8 1 
			 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006(2) 10 1 
			 (1) Data is categorised as three cases of racial harassment, one of which was upheld and five cases of racial discrimination.  (2) Data is categorised as three racial harassment cases, one of which was upheld, and seven racial discrimination cases include one which was not upheld and six which still ongoing.

Recidivism

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were committed by people who had previously been  (a) convicted of a crime and  (b) cautioned in each of the last five years, broken down by police authority area; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not available.
	Information on the criminal histories of offenders is published annually for offenders convicted in courts of indictable offences. The criminal histories are counts of previous convictions, and not cautions. The data are available for England and Wales as a whole, and are not broken down by police authority area.
	The most recent data on the previous convictions of those sentenced in court are available in chapter 6 of Sentencing Statistics 2004, Home Office Statistical Bulletin 15/05, a copy of which is available in the House Library and is available online at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hosbpubs1.html Information is presented in the bulletin going back to 1994.

Refugees

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria determine the exclusion of an individual from international protection under the UN Refugee Convention 1951 resulting in that individual receiving temporary admission instead of leave to remain; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Article 1F of the Refugee Convention excludes any individual from being a refugee where there are serious reasons for considering that they have: committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity; committed a serious non-political crime prior to arrival in the country of refuge; or been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
	Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention allows an asylum seeker or recognised refugee to be removed even if they have a well founded fear of persecution where they represent a threat to national security or where having been convicted of a particularly serious crime they constitute a danger to the community. Section 72 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 provides an interpretation of Article 33(2) of the 1951 Convention and defines the term particularly serious crime for the purposes of Article 33(2).

Zimbabwe

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants from Zimbabwe for indefinite leave to remain in the UK under the ancestral visa route have  (a) been refused because their application was proved to be fraudulent and  (b) had their application delayed because of an inquiry into fraud in the last 12 months.

Liam Byrne: In the last 12 months to 30 April 2006, 12 applicants from Zimbabwe for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) under the UK ancestral visa route have been refused. Detailed data which give the reason for the refusals are not held. Some 87 ILR applicants from Zimbabwe have had their application delayed while inquiries proceed. Of these, 77 remain under consideration while documents are checked and other inquiries made.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the budget of the access to work scheme for his Department to meet its target of getting one million more disabled people into work over the next 10 years.

Anne McGuire: Access to work spend has increased from 14.6 million in 1997-98 to 59.5 million in 2004-05 and I am pleased that this programme is now helping some 32,000 disabled people to move into or retain jobs. However, the vast majority of the 2.6 million disabled people who are working do not need the kind of support available from access to work.
	We will continue to review the balance between the different types of support and to ensure that the Pathways to Work Pilots continue to achieve impressive results by using a range of provision, including Access to work, to meet individual needs.

Affordable Credit

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on progress on implementation of the Affordable Credit Deductions Scheme.

James Plaskitt: As part of the Government's strategy to increase access to Affordable Credit for people on low income, we intend to introduce arrangements which, under certain circumstances, will enable lenders to apply for deductions from benefits to repay loans where re-payment arrangements have broken down. We intend to bring forward legislation in the autumn to enable the scheme to come into effect by the end of 2006.

Attendance Allowance

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will change the attendance allowance qualifying period from six months to three months; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Attendance allowance provides a contribution towards the extra costs faced by severely disabled people aged 65 or over as a result of long-term disability. The purpose of the six-month qualifying period is to establish that disability and the care needs arising from it are long-term, rather than the result of short-term or transient conditions, and we have no plans to change it. However, the decision maker will always look at how long care has been required when a disabled person claims the allowance and will consider whether some or all of the qualifying period has already been completed.

Benefit Claimants

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) Devon and  (b) Torbay claimed (i) income support, (ii) incapacity benefit and (iii) jobseeker's allowance for the most recent month for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Income support, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and jobseeker's allowance claimants in Devon and Torbay; November 2005 
			   Devon  Torbay parliamentary constituency 
			 Income support 17,100 4,400 
			 Incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance 26,900 5,830 
			 Jobseeker's allowance 5,153 1,458 
			  Notes: 1. Income support and incapacity benefit severe disablement allowance figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Jobseeker's allowance figures are un-rounded. 2. Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimant figures include incapacity benefit credits only cases. 3. Jobseeker's allowance figures are not seasonally adjusted.  Source: Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance-DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data; Jobseeker's Allowance-Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems (including clerically held cases).

Benefit Claimants

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the period between claimants' first contact and first issue of payment between April 2005 and March 2006.

Anne McGuire: The administration of jobcentre plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking for an estimate of the period between claimants' first contact and the issue of payment between April 2005 and March 2006. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as chief executive of jobcentre plus.
	The specific information you have requested is not available. The jobcentre plus measure of the time taken to process a claim for jobseeker's allowance, income support and incapacity benefit is the actual average clearance time. The standard required for 2005-06 is 12 working days for jobseeker's allowance and income support, and 19 days for incapacity benefit.
	The actual average clearance time for the three benefits is measured in different ways. Jobseeker's allowance is measured from the date of first contact. The clearance time start date for incapacity benefit is the date that the properly completed claim is received at any location within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and for income support it is the date on which a claim form containing all the evidence required is received. A case is treated as cleared when a decision on the person's entitlement to benefit is made or the claim is referred for payment.
	The following table shows the cumulative actual average clearance times for income support, jobseeker's allowance and incapacity benefit for the period April 2005 to March 2006. We have action plans in place to address clearance times where they do not meet the standard.
	
		
			   Actual average clearance times 
			 Incapacity benefit 16.3 
			 Income support 11.3 
			 Jobseeker's allowance 14.5

Benefit Fraud Inspectorate

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the future of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate.

James Plaskitt: As part of the Government's strategy for reducing inspection costs and burdens, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate's inspection remit, in relation to housing benefit and council tax benefit in England, will merge with the Audit Commission's in April 2008.
	The Department for Work and Pensions, in conjunction with the devolved Administrations, is looking at the feasibility of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate's inspection work in Scotland and Wales being undertaken by the relevant audit bodies there from April 2008.
	Other work currently performed by the inspectorate, such as the direct consultancy support it provides to local authorities across Great Britain, is expected to remain with the Department.

Benefits System

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he  (a) is taking and  (b) plans to take to simplify the benefits system; what recent representations he has received on simplifying the system; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: We have set up a dedicated Benefit Simplification Unit to act as a catalyst in driving forward simplification across the benefits system.
	The Government set out their long-term vision of a simpler, single system of benefits for people of working age in the Green Paper A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work. Copies are available in the Library.
	The formal consultation period ended on 21 April 2006 and we are now preparing a report which will summarise the responses we have received. The report will be published in the early summer.

Car Park Barriers

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are being taken to prepare guidance on safety for those companies which operate car park barriers.

Anne McGuire: Some guidance on gates and barriers already exists within Health and Safety Executive publications, in particular Workplace Transport Safety, An employers' guide (HSG136). This guidance applies to barriers in car parks and workplaces generally. There is also a British Standard relating to car park barriers.
	In response to recent concerns, HSE will be providing guidance on the safe operation of horizontal swinging barriers through its website within the next week.
	Independent of the concerns regarding car park barriers, a research project has been proposed on the operation and design of retail car parks and delivery areas. The aim of this project, which is subject to approval, is to produce guidance on car park safety including barriers where relevant.

Child Support

Jim Devine: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Livingston have had their cases migrated from the old Child Support Agency system to the new system.

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency cases of constituents in East Lothian have migrated from the old system to the new system.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not currently available at the geographical level requested.

Customer Management Systems

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of benefit claims is operated by the full customer management system, broken down by regional centres.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what proportion of benefit claims are operated by the full customer management system broken down by regional centres. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as chief executive of jobcentre plus.
	We currently have 23 contact centre sites located throughout the UK that provide the first contact service for customers wishing to make new claims to working age benefits. The contact centre sites do not necessarily respond to customer calls made from the geographical location in which they are sited, and therefore we cannot provide information broken down to 'regional level'.
	Whilst I am unable to provide the proportion of benefit claims made using the customer management system (CMS), I can confirm that there are currently 16 sites operating full CMS process and 7 sites that are operating some adjusted processes to respond to customer calls.

Departmental International Work

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the international work of his Department, with particular reference to  (a) co-ordination of information and labour market policies and  (b) mutual recognition and administrative simplification in relation to benefits.

James Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions works closely with a large number of countries on labour market issues, for example, other EU member states, in particular the new member states to help them and to learn from them. DWP Ministers and Officials participate in meetings of a wide variety of international institutions such as the Council of Europe, EU, UN, ILO and other international organisations such as the OECD to develop best practice and share information. This work is underpinned by national contributions to international labour market statistics. DWP promotes the UK reform agenda through the ministerial EU Employment and Social Policy Council and the EU Employment Committee and Social Protection Committee.
	Within the EU, legislation coordinates member states' social security schemes so that people who move from one state to another are not adversely affected by the application of different national legislations. For example, contributions paid in one member state can, in some cases, count towards satisfying conditions for another state's benefit. The Council of Ministers has agreed a modernised revision of the relevant regulation and work has begun on revising the provisions for administering that regulation. This will include development of electronic exchanges of information between member states to replace the current paper-based system.
	The United Kingdom also has bilateral social security agreements with a number of countries outside the EU and these have broadly similar provisions to the EC coordination regulation.

Departmental Relocation

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 11 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 469-70W, on departmental relocation, how many of these sites his Department  (a) is paying rent on,  (b) still owns and  (c) has sold on.

Anne McGuire: The Department does not own or rent any of these sites. They were transferred, for value, to Land Securities Trillium under a PFI deal known as the PRIME contract. Under the terms of the PRIME contract, the Department receives fully serviced accommodation in return for the payment of a unitary charge. This charge ceases once we have vacated the accommodation.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the staff in his Department is  (a) male,  (b) female and  (c) disabled, broken down by grade.

Anne McGuire: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Grade  Percentage male  Percentage female  Percentage declared disabled 
			 SCS 66.54 33.46 3.54 
			 Grade 6/7 56.05 43.95 3.24 
			 SEO/HEO 42.05 57.95 4.97 
			 EO 31.26 68.74 6.38 
			 AA/AO 28.42 71.59 4.34 
			 Total 30.83 69.17 5.03 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are as at 31 December 2005 2. Figures given are for the Department for Work and Pensions excluding the Health and Safety Executive. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 0.01 per cent. 4. The calculation of percentages is based on the number of people who have declared their disability. There is no requirement for DWP staff to declare their disability.

Disability Benefits

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average annual cost to public funds of maintaining a claimant on disability benefits.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Disability benefits (disability living allowance, attendance allowance and industrial injuries disablement benefit): (i) estimated average annual amount of benefit paid per recipient( 1) ; and (ii) estimated average annual administrative cost per recipient( 2) 
			  Benefit  Disability living allowance  Attendance allowance  Industrial injuries disablement benefit 
			 Average annual amount paid per recipient () 3,130.00 2,650.00 2,200.00 
			 Average annual administrative cost per recipient () 35.60 8.00 n/a 
			 (1) Figures are for 2005-06 and are rounded to the nearest 10. For disability living allowance they are based on payments data from statistical extracts for 100 per cent. of cases in payment in the quarter to November 2005; for attendance allowance they are based on payments data from statistical extracts for 5 per cent. of cases in payment in the quarter to November 2005; and for industrial injuries disability benefit they are based on payments data from statistical extracts for 100 per cent. of cases in payment in the quarter to September 2005. (2 )Figures are the estimated cost in 2004-05 of maintaining a case where benefit is in payment. They do not include the administrative costs of deciding claims to benefit.

Disability Benefits

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the appropriateness and accessibility of disability living allowance application forms for under 16-year-olds;
	(2)  what progress is being made in simplifying the disability living allowance claim form for under 16-year-olds.

Anne McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Terry Moran:
	In reply to two of your recent Parliamentary Questions about the Disability Living Allowance claim pack for under 16 year olds, the Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	You asked what assessment his Department has made of the appropriateness and accessibility of Disability Living Allowance application forms for under 16 year olds and also what progress was being made in simplifying the Disability Living Allowance claim form for under 16 year olds.
	The Department is committed to improving citizens' accessibility to all its services, including the application forms for Disability Living Allowance for children and adults. The recent launch of on-line electronic claim services for Disability Living Allowance has provided a new option of immediate access through electronic channels for those who prefer that means of making a claim. This option can be used for claims in respect of children.
	The Department, specifically the Disability and Carers Service, continues to work to monitor and improve the Disability Living Allowance claim forms and will continue to take account of the different needs of people with particular disabilities where this is practicable. Consultation about the claim forms is ongoing with the Disability and Carers Service Advisory Forum, which includes representatives of a range of disabled people, this consultation includes the appropriateness and accessibility of the forms.
	I hope this is helpful.

Employment Targets

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what studies he has  (a) commissioned,  (b) evaluated and  (c) collated on the impact of labour market trends on achieving his Department's employment targets.

Jim Murphy: The Department's Public Service Agreement (PSA) employment target is to demonstrate progress on increasing the employment rate between spring 2005 and spring 2008. We are on course to achieve this.
	Latest data shows the GB employment rate at 74.8 per cent (January-March 2006).
	Progress towards PSA targets is set out in the annual departmental report. The report for 2005-06 was published in May and is available in the Library. We have not commissioned, evaluated or collated any separate studies on the impact of labour market trends on achieving our PSA target.

Gas Safety (Prosecutions)

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will instruct the Health and Safety Executive to seek to prosecute all unregistered gas-fitters where there is evidence of a breach of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken a number of prosecutions against unregistered gas fitters and will continue to do so where prosecution is appropriate. HSE prosecutions, including those against unregistered gas fitters, are based on the standards in the Health and Safety Commission's Enforcement Policy Statement and the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
	The Enforcement Policy Statement includes a requirement that all action, including prosecution must be proportionate to the seriousness of the breach of the law, and any risks to health and safety arising from the particular breach. Consequently, it would not be appropriate for every breach of a given kind to result in prosecution.

Gershon Review

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account he took of undertakings made in response to the Gershon review's conclusions on target headcount when making the staffing projections set out on page 154 of his Department's Annual Report for 2006.

Jim Murphy: As set out in the Gershon review the Department is planning to reduce staff numbers by 30,000 full-time equivalents by the agreed date of 31 March 2008 from a baseline of 132,537 as at 1 March 2004.
	The figures shown in Table 6 of Annex A on page 154 of the departmental report reflect these plans but are presented as average staff numbers over each financial year rather than as an end of year point in time. This is in line with agreed reporting conventions.

Health and Safety

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent guidance has been issued to the Health and Safety Executive on improving safety standards in the handling of hazardous cargoes at ports and terminals.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 22 May 2006
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not recently issued or received any new guidance on safety standards for handling of hazardous cargoes at ports and terminals.
	The legal and guidance framework that HSE works to in relation to Liquid Natural Gas terminals is set out in the note LNG Terminalsplanning and consent issues, which is available on HSE's website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/supply/ingterminals.pdf.

Health and Safety

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive to improve  (a) the accuracy of accident books kept by employers and  (b) their compliance with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences directions.

Anne McGuire: A new version of the accident book was produced in conjunction with Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2003 to comply with the Data Protection Act and this was further amended in 2004. The book captures all the information required by the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979.
	The Health and Safety Executive introduced in 2001 simplified notification methods such as telephone reporting directly to the HSE Incident Contact Centre. The Accident Book contains brief guidance to the employer on what they are required to do to comply with RIDDOR.
	The Health and Safety Executive are currently conducting a fundamental review of RIDDOR aiming to simplify the current requirements, which should aid compliance. A formal consultation exercise should take place in early 2007.

Health and Safety

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether businesses which are open to the public have a responsibility to provide first aid facilities to customers who are hurt on their premises; what discussions he has had with businesses on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to assess their first aid needs in their workplace for their employees, but not members of the public. However, many businesses that provide a service to members of the public will include them in their first aid needs assessment.
	In August 2003, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) consulted industry about extending first aid provision to the public through a discussion document. In September 2004, the Health and Safety Commission concluded that there was already a good voluntary response to the provision of first aid to the public and that changes to the law were not necessary.
	HSE strongly encourages businesses which are open to the public to include the needs of the public and others on their premises when assessing their first-aid needs.

Jobcentre Service (Kent)

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints have been made about the jobcentre service in North and West Kent since 1 October 2005.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 8 May 2005
	The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many complaints have been made about the Jobcentre service in North and West Kent since October 2005. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	We have received 62 complaints about Jobcentre Plus services in North and West Kent from October 2005 to May 2006, the majority of which concerned delays in processing Working Age benefits at Canterbury Benefits Delivery Centre.
	As part of our transformation programme, we are reducing the number of offices where benefit processing is undertaken, and creating larger Benefit Delivery Centres. Claims for Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and Jobseeker's Allowance for customers living in the Medway and West Kent areas are processed at Canterbury Benefit Delivery Centre. Unfortunately, backlogs of benefit claims have developed as these significant changes bed in.
	A recovery plan is in operation to reduce the volume of outstanding work. This includes the temporary transfer of work to other sites where additional highly experienced staff are available such as Gillingham, Tunbridge Wells and Sittingbourne. As a safeguard, any customer experiencing financial hardship while awaiting benefit can request an interim payment.

Pathways to Work

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals in  (a) Peterborough constituency and  (b) Cambridgeshire are participating in the Pathways to Work programme; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Our successful Pathways to Work pilots have been acknowledged internationally as the best way of helping people on incapacity benefits back into work quickly. They have resulted in 21,400 Pathways job entries, including over 3,360 from voluntary customers.
	Peterborough and Cambridgeshire are currently not covered by the programme, but our Welfare Reform Green Paper, A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work, sets out our plans to roll out the programme across the whole country by 2008.

Pathways to Work

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to extend the Pathways to Work programme to Greater Manchester.

Jim Murphy: Our successful Pathways to Work pilots have been acknowledged internationally as the best way of helping people on incapacity benefits back into work quickly. They have resulted in 21,400 Pathways job entries, including over 3,360 from voluntary customers.
	Pathways to Work was rolled out in Greater Manchester Central District on 24 April 2006 and is now operational in all sites. The first customers are scheduled for work focused interviews in the week commencing 12 June 2006. Manchester East and Manchester West Districts will form part of the national roll-out of Pathways to Work as set out in the Green PaperA new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work.

Pension Credit Helpline

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone calls were made to the pension credit helpline in each month from September 2005 to February 2006; how many of these calls  (a) were handled,  (b) received an engaged tone and  (c) were abandoned; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The administration of The Pension Service is a matter for the chief executive, Ms Alexis Cleveland. She will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Alexis Cleveland, dated 25 May 2006:
	You asked the Secretary of State how many calls made to the Pension Credit Application Line in each month from September 2005 to February 2006 were (a) handled (b) engaged (c) abandoned; and if he will make a statement. I have been asked to respond as this matter falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as the Chief Executive of The Pension Service.
	Firstly, please accept my apologies for the delay in response. The table below shows the information, as requested, with additional information covering the period March and April. The number of calls received by the Pension Credit Application Line (PCAL) during November and December 2005 was exceptionally high due to the response to a marketing campaign The Pension Credit Application Line uses an automated filter, the Auto Attendant, when experiencing high volumes of calls. At times when this is required, customers who wish to make a claim for Pension Credit are advised by the Auto Attendant that they will be put through to the call queue. The automated message advises all other callers of the high call volumes and they are given the option to call again (during opening hours) or to contact their local Pension Centre, for which the correct telephone number is provided. When the auto attendant is not operating, callers receive a standard greeting message, during which they may abandon their call (for instance if they have dialled a wrong number).
	
		
			  Month  (i) Inbound calls  (ii) Receiving engaged tone  (iii) Calls filtered to the queue by the auto attendant (when in use)  (iv) Of (iii), Calls abandoned  (v) Of (iii) Calls answered 
			 September 104,181 0 102,879 5,491 102,101 
			 October 523,023 2 131,887 28,940 102,876 
			 November 393,746 0 207,303 55,321 152,159 
			 December 93,885 0 88,422 11,981 76,441 
			 January 202,493 0 139,213 36,837 102,326 
			 February 152,372 0 78,560 3,276 75,186 
			 March 221,421 10 153,422 9,746 143,627 
			 April 132,604 6 89,884 5,029 88,837 
			  Note:  There is a discrepancy in the calls answered total due to missing calls. This arises due to a small number of calls not registering on the IT system correctly. 
		
	
	During September 2005 the system that records the number of inbound calls and calls available to be answered did not accurately record data on two days. This resulted in the calls in columns (i) and (iii) to be under recorded, because of missing data.
	In April 2006 we improved the recording process. We can now record the point at which a call is abandoned, of the total 5,029 calls abandoned in April, 1,043 reached the point where they could have been answered i.e. in the adviser queue.
	I hope this information is helpful.

Post Office Card Accounts

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 15 February 2006,  Official Report, column 2187W, on Post Office card accounts, what conclusions his Department has drawn from its recent pilot studies testing approaches to moving people from Post Office card accounts to bank accounts as to  (a) the number of current Post Office card account users who will continue to use the post office and  (b) the impact that the termination of the Post Office card account will have on rural post offices; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The pilots ran between 13 February and 10 March 2006. We have just finished evaluating the results and are in the process of sharing the results with the Post Office. I will place a summary report of the findings in the Library shortly.

Single Room Rent Restrictions

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will commission research into the barriers vulnerable young people face in accessing privately rented shared accommodation at a rent at or below the local single room rent restriction.

James Plaskitt: We published research on the single room rent last year as DWP research report 243 Research into the Single Room Rent Regulations. A copy is available in the Library. There are currently no plans to commission any further research. The current evaluation of the local housing allowance pathfinders in the private rented sector will be completed later this year and will inform our plans for the further reform of housing benefit in the private rented sector.

Staff Surveys

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff surveys have been conducted in his Department in each of the last three years.

Anne McGuire: A corporate departmental survey has been conducted in DWP annually for the last three years. In addition, smaller interim surveys were conducted in 2004 and 2005. The annual surveys are censuses; the interim surveys are random samples.
	In addition to these surveys, different parts of DWP have used ad hoc staff surveys to gauge opinion on specific issues as part of continuous improvement work.

Television Sets

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many television sets are in operation in the Department  (a) in total,  (b) in Ministers' private offices and  (c) in each office building in the Department; and how many television licences are held by the Department.

Anne McGuire: There are 589 television sets in operation in the Department for Work and Pensions of which 12 are in Ministers' private offices.
	We are not able to provide an accurate figure on how many television sets are in each office building as the information is not recorded in the format requested. To provide that would incur disproportionate cost.
	The Department is covered by 444 television licences.
	In establishing this answer the Department has also consulted the Health and Safety Executive and the Rent Service, both Executive Agencies for which the Department is responsible across the country.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Antisocial Behaviour

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which councils have not prosecuted any tenants for antisocial behaviour.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	There are a wide range of powers available to local authorities to tackle the antisocial behaviour of both tenants and residents. We do not have full data on the use of these powers.
	We are taking steps to improve data on uptake of housing related powers. For example, my department has asked that local authorities collect data on use of possession and demotion from last year (2005-06), which will be available in the summer.

Arm's Length Management Organisations

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many arm's length management organisations which have been inspected have achieved  (a) no stars,  (b) one star,  (c) two stars and  (d) three stars.

Yvette Cooper: Some 45 arm's length management organisations have had at least one inspection. Based on the most recent inspection for each of those ALMOs, one has achieved no stars, five have achieved one star, 29 have achieved two stars and 10 have achieved three stars.

Arm's Length Management Organisations

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications she has received from councils to set up  (a) stock-transfers and  (b) arm's length management organisations in the next round.

Yvette Cooper: We have yet to invite applications. We will open the bidding round shortly.

Arm's Length Management Organisations

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what housing stock has been transferred from local authority control to arm's length management organisations; and how many transfers were based on  (a) a ballot of tenants and  (b) other methods of seeking tenant approval.

Yvette Cooper: Local authorities do not transfer their housing stock to arms length management organisations (ALMOs). The stock and the ALMO remain wholly owned by the local authorities. ALMOs are set up by local authorities to manage all or part of their housing stock.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government does not prescribe how a local authority should demonstrate tenant approval for the transfer of the management of the authority's housing functions to an ALMO. However, a local authority must demonstrate that tenants have been fully involved in the process in order to be successful in their ALMO application. They should also show that tenants will continue to be consulted about the ALMO's operation and performance.
	The following table lists which ALMOs have held ballots and which have used other methods.
	
		
			  Held a ballot  Used other method to test opinion 
			  ALMO round 1  
			 Derby Ashfield 
			 Hounslow Westminster 
			 Kirklees Wigan 
			 Rochdale  
			 Stockton-on-Tees  
			   
			  ALMO round 2  
			 Carrick Barnsley 
			 Colchester Blyth Valley 
			 LeedsEast Bolton 
			 LeedsNorth East Brent 
			 LeedsNorth West Cheltenham 
			 LeedsSouth Hillingdon 
			 LeedsSouth East Kensington and Chelsea 
			 LeedsWest Oldham 
			 Waltham Forest  
			   
			  ALMO round 3  
			 Camden Barnet 
			 Harrow Newcastle 
			 High Peak Poole 
			 Islington Solihull 
			 Sheffield: Brightside and Shiregreen Warrington 
			 Sheffield: Central Area Gateshead 
			 South Lakeland Easington 
			   
			  ALMO round 4  
			 Bassetlaw Ealing 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham Newark and Sherwood 
			 Manchester (partial) Sandwell 
			 Nottingham Bury 
			 Sheffield: Hillsborough, Nether Thorpe Rotherham 
			 Sheffield: Parson Cross, Foxhill, Longley Eastbourne 
			 Sheffield: Westfield, Hackenthorpe  
			 Slough  
			 Wolverhampton  
			   
			  ALMO round 5  
			 Sheffield: North Doncaster 
			 Sheffield: Bard Street, Richmond/Spinkhill, Sky Edge and Upper Manor Stockport 
			 Sheffield: Gleadless Gloucester 
			 Sheffield: South Newham 
			 Sheffield: Darnall, Tinsley and Burngreave Hackney 
			  South Tyneside 
			  Wear Valley 
			  Southend 
			  Lambeth

Arm's Length Management Organisations

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list transfers to arm's length management organisations since 1999; and what the estimated value is of each item of stock.

Yvette Cooper: Local authorities do not transfer their housing stock to arm's length management organisations (ALMOs). The stock and the ALMO remain wholly owned by the local authorities. ALMOs are set up by local authorities to manage all or part of their housing stock.
	The ALMO programme has been running since 2001-02. Since then, 57 local authorities have transferred their housing management functions to an arm's length management organisation (ALMO). They are listed as follows. Because this is a management contract between the ALMO and the local authority, the Department for Communities and Local Government does not estimate the value of the individual items of housing stock.
	 Arm's length management organisations:
	 Local authority:
	 ALMO round 1-announced 29 November 2001
	Ashfield
	Derby
	Hounslow
	Kirklees
	Rochdale
	Stockton-on-Tees
	Westminster
	Wigan
	 ALMO round 2-announced 29 May 2002
	Barnsley
	Blyth Valley
	Bolton
	Brent
	Carrick
	Cheltenham
	Colchester
	Hillingdon
	Kensington and Chelsea
	Leeds?East
	Leeds?North East
	Leeds?North West
	Leeds?South
	Leeds?South East
	Leeds?West
	Oldham
	Salford (withdrawn)
	Waltham Forest (withdrawn)
	 ALMO round 3-announced 28 July 2003
	Barnet
	Camden (withdrawn)
	Easington
	Gateshead
	Harrow (withdrawn)
	High Peak
	Islington
	Newcastle
	Poole
	Sheffield (partial)
	Solihull
	South Lakeland
	Warrington
	 ALMO round 4-announced on 5 May 2004
	Bassetlaw
	Brent (partial)
	Bury
	Ealing
	Eastbourne
	Hammersmith and Fulham
	Manchester (partial)
	Newark and Sherwood
	Nottingham
	Rotherham
	Sandwell
	Sheffield (partial)
	Slough
	Wolverhampton
	 ALMO round 5-announced on 23 June 2005
	Doncaster
	Gloucester
	Hackney
	Lambeth (partial)
	Newham
	Sheffield (partial)
	South Tyneside
	Southend
	Stockport
	Wear Valley

Cabinet Committees

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Cabinet committees he will be chairing in his new role; and how frequently he expects them to meet.

David Gauke: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many Cabinet committees he is scheduled to chair in the week commencing  (a) 15 May,  (b) 22 May and  (c) 29 May;
	(2)  which Cabinet committees he chairs; and how frequently each such committee has met in the past month.

Theresa May: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the Cabinet committees he chairs; and which he chaired at 10 April 2006.

Hilary Armstrong: holding answer 11 May 2006
	I have been asked to reply.
	My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has asked my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister to chair nine Cabinet Committees and to act as his deputy on a further seven Committees. An updated list of all Cabinet Committees, and of who chairs them, was placed in the Library by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 17 May 2006. Previous lists contain information on the number of Committees chaired by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister prior to that date. Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Cambridge Local Plan

David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the ruling by the inspector on the Cambridge Local Plan that the proportion of affordable housing to be required on qualifying sites should be reduced.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The inspector who conducted the inquiry into the Cambridge Local Plan submitted his report to Cambridge city council at the beginning of April. It is for the city council to consider the report before adopting its local plan. It would not be appropriate at present for the First Secretary of State to comment on the report in view of the Secretary of State's powers under the planning legislation.

Departmental Bills (Amendments)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the occasions when an amendment has been moved by  (a) a Labour Back Bencher,  (b) an Opposition Back Bencher and  (c) an Opposition Front Bench spokesman to a Bill sponsored by her Department and its predecessors that has been accepted by her Department during the 2005-06 session; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government is sponsoring The Housing Corporation (Delegations) Etc. Bill during the current session.
	Information on amendments moved and accepted during the Committee and Report stage on this Bill is published in the  Official Report.

Departmental Responsibilities

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list responsibilities which her Department and its predecessors have lost since 1997; what the  (a) date and  (b) destination Department was in each case; what responsibilities the Department and its predecessors have taken on since 1997; and what the (i) date and (ii) source Department was in each case.

Angela Smith: holding answer 15 May 2006
	Ministerial responsibilities are set out in the List of Ministerial Responsibilities, which is updated regularly. A revised version will be published shortly. Copies of previous versions are available in the Library.

Electromagnetic Fields

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with electricity supply companies on the routing of high voltage power lines underground in areas of high density housing.

Yvette Cooper: Ministers for the Department for Communities and Local Government have not had any discussions with electricity supply companies on the matter of routing high voltage power lines underground in areas of high density housing.

Electromagnetic Fields

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) guidance she issues and  (b) restrictions she places on electricity companies on the siting of electricity sub-stations in areas of high population density.

Yvette Cooper: New substations or major extensions to existing substations may require planning permission from local planning authorities. However, the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 does allow certain development to take place within existing substations and on operational land without the need to apply for planning permission.
	The Secretary of State has not issued any guidelines to electricity companies on the siting of electricity substations.

Flood Plains

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he plans to take against those councils ignoring advice from the Environment Agency not to build on flood plains.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Local authorities are responsible for the planning decisions they take. They must take all relevant factors into account to strike an appropriate balance between the needs of the local community and flood risk, and can be challenged in the courts on whether they have exercised their judgment in a lawful manner. The Environment Agency has succeeded in a judicial review, where it considered an authority had not given sufficient weight to its views of flood risk in a planning decision. To support authorities in making these decisions the Government recently consulted on a package of measures to strengthen the application of planning policy for development and flood risk. Responding to figures in the Environment Agency's High Level Target 5 report for 2004-05, published in February, on permissions for major development permitted against its sustained objection on flood risk grounds, my officials have contacted the authorities on whose cases the Agency still had concerns about, and we are currently seeking the Agency's views on the authorities detailed responses.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the  (a) police and  (b) security services will have access to the Register of Home Condition Reports.

Yvette Cooper: The regulations to be made under part V of the Housing Act 2004 setting out who has access to the register, will not specify automatic access for the police and security services. As with other public and private databases, if the police or security services believe access to information on the register is needed these bodies would be able to gain a warrant from the courts to view certain information, for example, where a criminal offence had taken place. The regulations setting out access to the register are expected to be made later in the year, following the summer parliamentary recess.

Home Information Packs

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the introduction of home information packs on the number of homes on which surveys will be conducted.

Yvette Cooper: Currently, around 30 per cent. of home sales involve a mid-range survey, such as the Homebuyer's Survey. A further 45 per cent. involve surveys done by mortgage valuers, which involve a limited inspection to determine the security of the loan.
	Once Home Information Packs become mandatory, it is estimated that 90 per cent. of sales will require a Home Condition Report to be prepared. New homes with an approved warranty will not require a Home Condition Report. The Home Condition Report will include energy efficiency information on each house, which is not provided in current surveys.

Home Ownership

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of people in each electoral ward in  (a) Cleethorpes,  (b) Great Grimsby,  (c) Scunthorpe and  (d) Brigg and Goole constituencies own their own homes.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The following data are derived from the 2001 Census, and show the percentage of households that own their own home in each ward.
	
		
			  (a) Cleethorpes 
			  Ward  Percentage 
			 Barton 73 
			 Croft Baker 67 
			 Ferry 79 
			 Haverstoe 88 
			 Humberston and New Waltham 91 
			 Immingham 72 
			 Sidney Sussex 74 
			 Waltham 86 
			 Wolds 87 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Great Grimsby 
			  Ward  Percentage 
			 East Marsh 42 
			 Freshney 75 
			 Heneage 76 
			 Park 77 
			 Scartho 88 
			 South 48 
			 West Marsh 62 
			 Yarborough 77 
		
	
	
		
			  (c) Scunthorpe 
			  Ward  Percentage 
			 Ashby 68 
			 Bottesford 93 
			 Brumby 53 
			 Crosby and Park 64 
			 Frodingham 59 
			 Kingsway with Lincoln Gardens 72 
			 Ridge 78 
			 Town 61 
		
	
	
		
			  (d) Brigg and Goole 
			  Ward  Percentage 
			 Axholme Central 81 
			 Axholme North 73 
			 Axholme South 85 
			 Brigg and Wolds 72 
			 Broughton and Appleby 81 
			 Burringham and Gunness 71 
			 Burton upon Slather and Winterton 81 
			 Goole North 75 
			 Goole South 64 
			 Ridge 80 
			 Snaith, Airmyn, Rawcliffe and Marshland 80

Homelessness

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action the Government are taking to reduce homelessness, with particular reference to Greater London.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Our strategy Sustainable Communities: settled homes; changing lives sets out our aims to reduce homelessness and halve the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2010.
	We are working with London boroughs the Government office for London, the Greater London Authority, Association of Local Government and other organisations in London to deliver the strategy and further reduce levels of rough sleeping in the capital.

Homelessness

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless people there were in London in each of the last eight years.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Information is collected by the Department, since 1998, on the number of people who sleep rough, that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night.
	Figures for London were:
	
		
			   Number of people sleeping rough 
			 1998 621 
			 1999 635 
			 2000 546 
			 2001 357 
			 2002 321 
			 2003 267 
			 2004 265 
			 2005 221 
		
	
	Information about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation, which is collected in respect of households rather than persons, is summarised from 1997 onwards in a quarterly Statistical Release, the latest of which was published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 13 March.
	Table 3 provides a regional breakdown of households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, and Table 7 similarly presents those in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities at the end of each quarter.
	Copies are available in the Library, and from the ODPM website at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id==l002882PressNoticeID=2Q95.
	The duty owed to a person accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available. As an alternative to the provision of temporary accommodation some authorities arrange for households to remain in their current accommodation (homeless at home), until a settled solution becomes available.

Homelessness

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what funds his Department has allocated to reducing homelessness in each of the last eight years.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The following table shows the amounts of grant that were allocated by ODPM to local authorities and voluntary organisations in England in each of the last eight years for reducing homelessness.
	
		
			   million 
			   Local authorities  Voluntary organisations  Total 
			 2005-06 44.5 15.0 59.5 
			 2004-05 45.8 14.8 60.6 
			 2003-04 50.6 20.3 70.9 
			 2002-03 48.2 25.0 73.2 
			 2001-02 3.5 36.6 40.1 
			 2000-01 2.9 28.6 31.5 
			 1999-2000 3.1 22.6 25.7 
			 1998-99 0.00 19.6 19.6 
			 Total 198.6 182.5 381.1

Homelessness

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate she has made of the number of black and minority ethnic young people who are homeless.

Yvette Cooper: This specific information is not collected centrally and no estimates are currently available.
	In 2005, there were some 20,700 identified black and minority ethnic households accepted as homeless and in a priority need category (21 per cent. of all accepted households), but a corresponding breakdown by age is not available. In the same period, there were nearly 9,000 households consisting of young people in priority need that is, those aged 16 or 17, or those careleavers aged under 21 (9 per cent. of all accepted households)but a corresponding breakdown by ethnicity is not available.
	Recognising the disproportionate risk of homelessness for ethnic minorities, ODPM commissioned research in 2003 to find out more about the causes of statutory homelessness among these households in England. Findings were published last September, and at the same time a 3 million Ethnic Minorities Innovation Fund was launched to provide money for new, innovative projects to reduce and prevent homelessness among ethnic minority communities and to support the delivery of good practice more widely.

Homelessness

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were registered homeless in each London borough in each of the last 5 years.

Yvette Cooper: Information collected about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is in respect of households rather than persons. A table presenting reported information on the number of households accepted by each local authority in England, including London Boroughs, as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need in each year from 1999-2000 to 2004-05 was provided in an answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) in October 2005, and is available in the Library.
	Homelessness information for the January-March quarter 2006, including summary data at local authority level, will be published in a Statistical Release on 12 June 2006.

Housing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister from what budget the 970 million announced in the 2006 Budget for housing will be funded; and whether it is additional expenditure above previously announced spending plans.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) on 22 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1401W.

Housing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many individuals resided in Government-subsidised housing in  (a) Romford,  (b) Havering and  (c) Greater London in each of the last eight years.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on the number of individuals in Government subsidised housing is not available centrally. Information on the number of council homes and registered social landlord units and bedspaces is published on the ODPM website. Table 115 gives the RSL rented stock by local authority from 1997 and is available at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/21/Table115 Excel96Kb_id1156021.xls.
	Table 116 gives the local authority rented stock by district from 1994 and is available at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/22/Table116Excel127Kb _id1156022.xls.

Housing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average fees charged by local authorities for mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation.

Yvette Cooper: The regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for licensing of houses in multiple occupation which was published in February 2006 estimated that the average fee for mandatory licensing would be approximately 500. When this cost is averaged out over the five-year life of a licence, this would result in an annual cost of around 100. The estimate was based on a sample survey of local housing authorities carried out in December 2005.

Housing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2006,  Official Report, column 805W, on housing, what the average subsidy was to a key worker in  (a) Barnet and  (b) London in each employment sector under (i) the Starter Home Initiative and (ii) Key Worker Living between 2004 and 2006; what the total cost was of each scheme in  (A) Barnet and  (B) London in that period, broken down by employment sector; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Starter Home Initiative (SHI) was delivered mainly through equity loans. Table 1 details the total and average subsidy provided by employment sector under SHI in Barnet and across London between 2001-02 and 2003-04.
	
		
			  Starter Home Initiative 
			  Key worker  Average subsidy ()  Total Social Housing Grant ()  Units 
			  Barnet
			 Health 38,226 1,681,950 44 
			 Teachers 34,686 2,011,800 58 
			 Police 31,507 472,600 15 
			 Others 24,600 24,600 1 
			 Total 35,517 4,190,950 118 
			  
			  London
			 Health 34,411 62,661,804 1821 
			 Teachers 33,911 47,508,727 1401 
			 Police 35,776 23,683,665 662 
			 Others 40,009 6,681,456 167 
			 Total 34,692 140,535,652 4051 
		
	
	Key Worker Living (KWL) funding is divided between Open Market HomeBuy (equity loans) and new build products such as shared ownership and intermediate rent. For new build products it is not possible to provide average subsidy by sector. Table 2 details the total and average subsidy provided by employment sector under KWL Open Market HomeBuy in Barnet and across London between 2004-05 and 2005-06. Some 40 million has so far been provided in London to provide 932 units. None of these units have been developed in Barnet.
	
		
			  Key Worker Living Open Market HomeBuy 
			  Key worker  Average subsidy ()  Total Social Housing Grant ()  Units 
			  Barnet
			 Health 35,975 935,337 26 
			 Education 44,697 1,385,620 31 
			 Police 35,367 247,570 7 
			 Prison 38,300 76,600 2 
			 Probation 45,700 45,700 1 
			 Local Authority 40,003 160,011 4 
			 Total 40,153 2,850,838 71 
			 London Challenge Teachers 87,981 2,287,505 26 
			  
			  London
			 Health 40,751 51,142,055 1,255 
			 Education 42,321 51,631,570 1,220 
			 Police 41,728 25,245,176 605 
			 Prison 44,828 3,541,398 79 
			 Probation 46,800 1,450,787 31 
			 Local Authority 41,681 5,043,434 121 
			 Total 41,696 138,054,420 3,311 
			 London Challenge Teachers 87,751 73,710,560 840 
		
	
	Teachers who qualify for London Challenge Teacher funding can receive up to 100,000 as an equity loan instead of 50,000 for all other key workers, which is why the average subsidy per unit is higher for this group.

Housing

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new homes have been built in Taunton constituency in each year since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The number of new house building completions in Taunton Deane local authority district, as reported by the local authority and the National House Building Council are tabled as follows. Figures are not collected by constituency.
	
		
			   New house building completions 
			 1997 377 
			 1998 323 
			 1999 659 
			 2000 532 
			 2001 532 
			 2002 462 
			 2003 262 
			 2004 317 
			 2005 276 
			  Source:  Building control completionslocal authority and National House Building Council

Housing

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to increase the supply of affordable housing in Bolton.

Yvette Cooper: The housing corporation's 2006-08 programme allocates 4,883,609 for social housing schemes in Bolton. This contrasts with 961,694 in 2004-06. In addition, Bolton's unitary development plan states that the council will negotiate with developers to provide an element of affordable houses in new schemes.

Housing

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the role of electoral service organisations in overseeing ballots on council house sales to ensure propriety.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	None. Stock transfer ballots are carried out by independent organisations who have their own rules and procedures in place to ensure that the ballot is conducted properly.

Housing

Mark Harper: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister under what circumstances a member of the armed forces is considered to have local connections for the purposes of obtaining social housing on discharge.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 6 March 2006
	I have been asked to reply.
	The allocation legislation (part 6 of the Housing Act 1996) allows, but does not require, local authorities to take into account whether a person has a local connection with the district in determining priorities between applicants for social housing. For these purposes local connection is defined by s.199 of the 1996 Act which provides that a local connection may be established through residence of choice (either now or in the past), employment, family associations or special circumstances. However, s.199 provides that:
	a person is not employed in the district if he is serving in the armed forces there, and
	residence in a district is not of a person's choice if he (or someone he lives with) is serving in the armed forces there.
	This is intended to safeguard local authorities in areas with large military bases.
	We are reviewing the position with the Ministry of Defence.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total income was of the local authority housing revenue account in each authority in England that retains its own council housing, in the last period for which figures are available; how much of that was  (a) spent on repairs and administration of council housing , (b) used for other purposes by councils and  (c) taken by central Government for (i) redistribution and (ii) debt repayment.

Phil Woolas: The following table shows 2004-05 total income, management and maintenance expenditure, other expenditure (within the housing revenue account), subsidy paid to the authority and negative subsidy (i.e. amounts paid by the authority to Government) and total expenditure in 2004-05 for each of the 235 housing revenue accounts which were open on 1 April 2005.
	The negative subsidy payments made by authorities to Government are used to help fund the subsidy payments required by authorities with deficits. In total the subsidies paid to authorities exceeded the amount paid to Government by some 75 million.
	
		
			  Housing revenue accounts' income and expenditure 2004-05 
			   
			   Total income  Management and maintenance expenditure  Other expenditure  Negative subsidy transfer to ODPM  Total expenditure 
			 Adur 10,709,903 4,540,349 3,629,680 1,420,820 9,590,849 
			 Alnwick 5,487,685 2,182,816 2,186,437 682,119 5,051,372 
			 Arun 16,068,106 7,994,196 2,769,205 1,996,982 12,760,383 
			 Ashfield 24,261,830 10,253,960 9,853,357 0 20,107,317 
			 Ashford 19,864,820 7,779,746 7,099,753 4,465,918 19,345,417 
			 Aylesbury 43,143,906 11,135,660 21,656,649 9,700,287 42,492,596 
			 Babergh 14,671,857 5,231,058 4,428,781 3,439,353 13,099,192 
			 Barking 72,765,930 39,595,830 22,589,129 7,406,543 69,591,502 
			 Barnet 56,519,588 28,669,215 14,420,601 7,489,375 50,579,191 
			 Barnsley 57,493,804 26,166,536 22,711,720 0 48,878,256 
			 Barrow 9,444,202 4,481,935 2,736,983 501,300 7,720,218 
			 Basildon 45,069,926 21,067,071 22,338,404 0 43,405,475 
			 Bassetlaw 20,787,004 11,301,261 8,126,174 1,846,916 21,274,351 
			 Berwick 5,730,791 2,115,059 1,472,711 1,652,799 5,240,569 
			 Birmingham 226,699,616 120,326,014 89,491,302 0 209,817,316 
			 Blaby 6,948,641 3,015,387 2,053,299 1,656,434 6,725,120 
			 Blackpool 16,666,219 10,315,570 5,777,605 0 16,093,175 
			 Blyth Valley 15,781,373 8,187,967 6,781,975 0 14,969,942 
			 Bolsover 12,903,299 5,620,836 3,549,539 2,858,369 12,028,744 
			 Bolton 49,251,100 25,069,100 22,273,500 0 47,342,600 
			 Bournemouth 17,856,891 6,566,842 5,368,973 2,839,879 14,775,694 
			 Bracknell 28,246,815 10,015,594 8,979,659 8,066,322 27,061,575 
			 Braintree 33,292,786 11,937,776 8,622,355 7,114,686 27,674,817 
			 Brent 66,620,000 22,609,000 43,498,000 0 66,107,000 
			 Brentwood 13,437,000 4,653,000 5,149,000 2,862,000 12,664,000 
			 Bridgnorth 10,549,870 3,359,342 4,381,247 2,396,190 10,136,779 
			 Brighton and Hove 49,269,825 21,931,175 23,995,907 0 45,927,082 
			 Bristol 129,541,558 45,493,253 43,224,311 18,823,646 107,541,210 
			 Bromsgrove 395,955 39,371 0 0 39,371 
			 Broxbourne 15,180,389 7,323,508 2,865,861 4,006,115 14,195,484 
			 Broxtowe 16,046,235 5,897,303 7,423,486 0 13,320,789 
			 Bury 27,403,844 13,372,327 6,968,325 3,363,230 23,703,882 
			 Cambridge 37,780,888 10,791,761 9,387,053 8,904,930 29,083,744 
			 Camden 233,419,645 87,888,459 65,269,265 0 153,157,724 
			 Cannock Chase 16,557,215 6,561,881 7,174,584 1,952,602 15,689,067 
			 Canterbury 18,262,974 8,165,087 6,251,568 3,179,832 17,596,487 
			 Caradon 11,408,404 5,435,089 2,905,544 2,379,755 10,720,388 
			 Carrick 12,461,824 5,650,300 26,368,733 1,445,988 33,465,021 
			 Castle Morpeth 5,910,405 2,864,520 5,679,424 756,469 9,300,413 
			 Castle Point 6,908,515 3,170,329 1,751,962 1,495,731 6,418,022 
			 Charnwood 19,175,208 8,192,334 10,283,657 0 18,475,991 
			 Cheltenham 16,933,685 8,388,797 4,573,445 2,445,940 15,408,182 
			 Chester-le-St 13,495,420 5,085,111 5,475,628 1,857,906 12,418,645 
			 Chesterfield 28,618,246 12,818,503 9,040,318 3,557,636 25,416,457 
			 Chorley 7,682,611 3,533,083 2,244,185 1,462,495 7,239,763 
			 City of London 18,211,506 9,591,091 2,805,492 12,745 12,409,328 
			 City of York 31,547,171 11,147,416 10,535,439 5,009,616 26,692,471 
			 Colchester 24,745,271 10,492,447 10,545,946 1,069,049 22,107,442 
			 Copeland 1,994,430 947,226 506,719 400,838 1,854,783 
			 Corby 16,476,937 8,581,592 3,419,782 0 12,001,374 
			 Crawley 39,383,187 14,389,445 11,332,835 10,726,401 36,448,681 
			 Croydon 61,230,161 29,246,142 18,611,540 9,075,638 56,933,320 
			 Dacorum 49,623,620 14,436,434 15,453,801 17,813,382 47,703,617 
			 Darlington 14,965,981 8,189,387 5,099,150 1,200,235 14,488,772 
			 Dartford 25,668,196 7,238,652 13,385,340 4,117,318 24,741,310 
			 Daventry 10,050,493 3,109,466 3,187,782 3,219,500 9,516,748 
			 Derby 49,391,575 22,522,189 20,377,597 0 42,899,786 
			 Derwentside 23,852,996 8,999,713 12,366,163 1,293,483 22,659,359 
			 Doncaster 57,860,273 30,403,420 18,799,608 2,693,262 51,896,290 
			 Dover 19,895,207 7,252,741 4,144,279 3,835,156 15,232,176 
			 Dudley 69,759,710 34,175,588 20,430,569 12,309,260 66,915,417 
			 Durham 15,934,506 7,561,981 6,133,260 0 13,695,241 
			 Ealing 79,204,400 41,928,500 46,633,500 0 88,562,000 
			 Easington 34,683,000 12,835,000 18,773,000 694,000 32,302,000 
			 East Devon 10,986,312 4,305,367 2,589,990 4,090,955 10,986,312 
			 East Riding 35,140,034 13,622,820 8,722,952 8,713,411 31,059,183 
			 Eastbourne 14,025,183 5,937,297 6,307,913 0 12,245,210 
			 Ellesmere Port 14,592,817 6,591,530 4,425,957 2,237,007 13,254,494 
			 Enfield 56,294,897 29,716,003 18,499,285 0 48,215,288 
			 Epping Forest 32,904,447 10,860,629 9,653,467 7,556,081 28,070,177 
			 Exeter 15,285,259 6,350,578 2,982,059 3,554,695 12,887,332 
			 Fareham 10,068,575 4,900,946 3,103,860 919,660 8,924,466 
			 Fenland 12,633,476 5,299,232 4,604,791 1,958,699 11,862,722 
			 Forest Heath 5,199,926 2,048,209 1,599,897 1,205,576 4,853,682 
			 Gateshead 70,600,637 31,234,000 34,671,000 3,172,000 69,077,000 
			 Gedling 12,290,304 4,703,686 3,040,079 3,741,871 11,485,636 
			 Gloucester 14,631,110 8,272,700 4,223,176 710,086 13,205,962 
			 Gosport 10,558,660 4,744,005 2,773,679 1,960,090 9,477,774 
			 Gravesham 21,092,834 10,728,285 4,899,691 3,770,223 19,398,199 
			 Great Yarmouth 16,740,208 8,696,931 4,972,397 1,286,410 14,955,738 
			 Greenwich 132,558,902 59,778,039 54,112,308 0 113,890,347 
			 Guildford 30,497,585 9,697,541 12,471,474 7,228,570 29,397,585 
			 Hackney 170,085,289 80,851,838 68,305,190 0 149,157,028 
			 Halton 17,310,218 8,873,186 4,852,142 3,146,023 16,871,351 
			 Hammersmith 101,762,286 68,285,330 29,302,239 0 97,587,569 
			 Harborough 8,439,067 3,121,400 1,789,540 2,694,708 7,605,648 
			 Haringey 105,107,200 50,042,000 48,106,400 0 98,148,400 
			 Harlow 82,919,410 15,578,669 56,850,566 8,792,697 81,221,932 
			 Harrogate 13,544,129 6,056,406 2,814,288 2,203,008 11,073,702 
			 Harrow 22,329,594 11,930,388 5,594,857 4,108,267 21,633,512 
			 Havering 39,498,994 19,756,576 11,148,608 6,066,145 36,971,329 
			 High Peak 13,012,873 6,442,181 3,417,941 2,139,703 11,999,825 
			 Hillingdon 62,140,447 22,872,135 18,087,651 8,167,650 49,127,436 
			 Hinckley 11,648,172 4,364,867 3,721,105 2,646,829 10,732,801 
			 Hounslow 65,609,883 38,229,721 24,769,208 0 62,998,929 
			 Hyndburn 8,573,248 4,623,582 3,802,164 0 8,425,746 
			 Ipswich 29,646,176 9,352,156 11,517,375 4,273,645 25,143,176 
			 Isles of Scilly 410,326 153,499 97,160 38,563 289,222 
			 Islington 206,596,548 71,932,690 126,522,823 0 198,455,513 
			 Kensington 49,556,978 28,170,252 18,688,484 0 46,858,736 
			 Kettering 10,714,243 5,783,360 2,561,109 1,846,413 10,190,882 
			 Kings Lynn 19,355,424 10,245,215 5,437,438 0 15,682,653 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 87,278,467 36,972,225 33,601,475 0 70,573,700 
			 Kingston upon Thames 24,758,311 14,199,849 5,820,683 4,033,000 24,053,532 
			 Kirklees 85,732,651 34,447,340 25,347,067 0 59,794,407 
			 Lambeth 213,975,000 97,331,000 115,123,000 0 212,454,000 
			 Lancaster 12,174,132 5,770,639 4,615,296 755,195 11,141,130 
			 Leeds 169,485,007 90,488,414 74,390,737 0 164,879,151 
			 Leicester 65,674,168 37,199,380 23,979,926 0 61,179,306 
			 Lewes 13,086,201 4,875,978 4,357,766 1,473,836 10,707,580 
			 Lewisham 160,840,000 73,084,000 79,582,000 0 152,666,000 
			 Lincoln 21,738,044 11,699,227 8,389,761 0 20,088,988 
			 Liverpool 92,330,442 32,729,060 58,055,992 0 90,785,052 
			 Luton 31,560,316 16,380,223 8,392,874 3,414,488 28,187,585 
			 Macclesfield 15,964,501 7,653,705 3,301,134 4,371,187 15,326,026 
			 Manchester 225,312,372 96,967,450 120,550,462 0 217,517,912 
			 Mansfield 24,157,447 15,589,534 7,656,913 0 23,246,447 
			 Medway Towns 10,647,518 4,968,319 6,033,402 851,823 11,853,544 
			 Melton 5,431,867 2,620,031 1,608,763 1,037,454 5,266,248 
			 Merton 29,703,598 17,397,924 7,716,917 3,850,186 28,965,027 
			 Mid Devon 9,857,736 4,212,369 1,846,333 3,032,217 9,090,919 
			 Mid Suffolk 11,601,909 4,781,279 3,806,362 2,408,883 10,996,524 
			 Middlesbrough 26,192,000 12,836,000 10,315,000 856,000 24,007,000 
			 Milton Keynes 50,492,291 16,698,613 15,519,531 12,295,205 44,513,349 
			 Mole Valley 14,327,281 7,321,679 2,784,127 2,383,029 12,488,835 
			 NE Derbyshire 23,700,163 9,144,675 7,209,372 3,964,515 20,318,562 
			 New Forest 22,105,416 8,428,675 4,754,066 5,317,744 18,500,485 
			 Newark 15,986,034 7,057,456 5,451,817 1,596,510 14,105,783 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 128,251,445 57,543,579 65,526,797 0 123,070,376 
			 Newham 149,383,758 52,699,085 85,147,220 0 137,846,305 
			 North Cornwall 10,571,455 4,953,310 2,328,866 2,324,194 9,606,370 
			 North East Lincoln 19,912,557 8,710,538 9,303,527 527,136 18,541,201 
			 North Kesteven 10,822,584 4,849,643 3,985,580 1,330,224 10,165,447 
			 North Lincoln 25,477,289 12,582,779 11,072,855 1,698,178 25,353,812 
			 North Norfolk 13,480,702 5,503,367 3,804,285 3,377,034 12,684,686 
			 North Shropshire 6,568,503 2,438,425 1,550,990 1,893,862 5,883,277 
			 North Somerset 24,699,436 9,989,753 6,186,631 4,469,715 20,646,099 
			 North Tyneside 60,040,787 22,501,166 28,958,687 262,377 51,722,230 
			 North Warwick 8,952,654 2,989,189 2,242,474 3,081,673 8,313,336 
			 Northampton 44,227,922 18,429,800 14,139,299 8,104,127 40,673,226 
			 Norwich 56,774,944 25,216,273 19,996,425 5,838,249 51,050,947 
			 Nottingham 87,098,378 50,348,926 35,165,944 0 85,514,870 
			 Nuneaton 22,619,699 9,369,200 4,586,512 6,634,828 20,590,540 
			 NW Leicester 12,760,932 5,422,406 3,212,473 3,309,089 11,943,968 
			 Oadby and Wigston 4,406,546 1,557,215 1,463,240 748,013 3,768,468 
			 Oldham 52,504,742 25,828,260 25,143,051 318,714 51,290,025 
			 Oswestry 5,574,293 2,807,817 1,442,326 943,658 5,193,801 
			 Oxford City 43,156,569 12,344,275 19,629,743 6,579,835 38,553,853 
			 Pendle 10,530,316 4,205,179 3,081,361 1,178,541 8,465,081 
			 Peterborough 16,686,768 10,618,936 3,328,304 998,322 14,945,562 
			 Plymouth 49,109,754 24,645,234 22,756,767 0 47,402,001 
			 Poole 15,851,000 7,375,000 3,560,000 3,822,000 14,757,000 
			 Portsmouth 66,023,901 30,210,917 31,135,379 0 61,346,296 
			 Preston 17,950,046 10,373,038 6,969,870 0 17,342,908 
			 Purbeck 2,040,932 866,941 249,573 690,599 1,807,113 
			 Reading 40,266,153 19,350,229 9,365,834 8,923,020 37,639,083 
			 Redbridge 22,113,000 12,352,000 5,188,000 2,362,000 19,902,000 
			 Redcar and Clev 344,039 4,056 374,030 0 378,086 
			 Redditch 17,648,518 7,677,884 5,095,323 4,629,875 17,403,082 
			 Ribble Valley 3,979,899 1,520,408 1,612,080 527,104 3,659,592 
			 Richmondshire 5,191,752 2,584,320 1,179,490 1,027,942 4,791,752 
			 Rochdale 51,495,825 24,701,409 21,753,616 0 46,455,025 
			 Rochford 6,448,857 2,823,420 2,175,712 476,357 5,475,489 
			 Rossendale 10,304,073 4,959,254 4,010,065 964,742 9,934,061 
			 Rotherham 75,736,087 28,549,508 24,271,239 16,645,054 69,465,801 
			 Rugby 12,092,460 4,980,310 4,916,090 2,206,600 12,103,000 
			 Runnymede 14,838,508 4,459,378 7,595,502 0 12,054,880 
			 Rutland 4,231,926 2,078,662 1,015,456 980,593 4,074,711 
			 Salford 91,014,388 47,183,931 39,858,465 0 87,042,396 
			 Salisbury 29,561,686 7,783,113 12,321,836 5,784,745 25,889,694 
			 Sandwell 107,157 64,307 28,640 1,683 94,630 
			 Sedgefield 26,921,982 12,805,518 7,330,176 3,325,992 23,461,686 
			 Sedgemoor 15,282,681 8,674,989 2,688,843 2,818,635 14,182,467 
			 Sefton 43,122,693 18,953,119 11,715,804 10,318,498 40,987,421 
			 Selby 11,906,751 4,014,268 4,513,093 2,652,500 11,179,861 
			 Sheffield 151,540,511 78,612,175 68,139,302 0 146,751,477 
			 Shepway 17,117,000 6,546,000 6,784,000 1,531,000 14,861,000 
			 Slough 28,721,633 12,720,109 6,173,936 5,142,952 24,036,997 
			 Solihull 48,602,744 17,973,237 21,814,090 3,848,852 43,636,179 
			 South Beds 20,013,435 7,778,562 5,282,639 6,111,676 19,172,877 
			 South Cambridge 22,741,446 8,265,942 3,677,469 8,741,944 20,685,355 
			 South Derby 10,513,763 4,333,961 2,974,743 1,854,139 9,162,843 
			 South Gloucs 37,262,465 12,051,315 17,011,933 6,452,032 35,515,280 
			 South Holland 12,338,154 5,555,341 2,674,802 2,265,203 10,495,346 
			 South Kesteven 22,655,682 8,973,468 10,369,589 0 19,343,057 
			 South Lakeland 11,639,894 5,307,981 2,948,693 3,560,276 11,816,950 
			 South Norfolk 179,678 0 138,836 0 138,836 
			 South Northants 11,378,162 3,804,735 2,819,133 3,738,059 10,361,927 
			 South Tyneside 54,948,633 22,094,672 25,855,895 3,600,720 51,551,287 
			 Southampton 51,316,118 26,503,926 22,871,262 0 49,375,188 
			 Southend-on-Sea 33,123,000 13,679,864 6,808,000 309,136 20,797,000 
			 Southwark 311,200,000 151,587,000 132,083,000 0 283,670,000 
			 St. Albans 21,610,336 7,678,453 6,169,509 7,029,484 20,877,446 
			 Stafford 16,011,212 8,655,544 4,353,212 2,484,817 15,493,573 
			 Stevenage 34,431,181 12,518,614 7,438,732 12,235,893 32,193,239 
			 Stockport 33,596,180 18,350,704 39,198,854 602,302 58,151,860 
			 Stockton 33,090,997 15,314,313 16,570,261 0 31,884,574 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 51,593,233 25,285,238 19,811,262 4,429,212 49,525,712 
			 Stroud 21,583,127 7,321,894 6,867,120 4,843,028 19,032,042 
			 Sutton 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Swindon 35,028,510 15,851,560 10,527,468 6,430,831 32,809,859 
			 Tamworth 15,213,387 8,162,560 5,049,726 1,201,696 14,413,982 
			 Tandridge 13,127,073 4,390,262 5,849,388 2,635,997 12,875,647 
			 Taunton Deane 19,588,250 8,570,298 4,468,113 4,264,208 17,302,619 
			 Teesdale 2,382,715 1,195,357 675,438 315,134 2,185,929 
			 Tendring 12,439,331 4,863,400 4,341,077 770,093 9,974,570 
			 Thanet 9,634,347 5,743,408 3,476,242 58,609 9,278,259 
			 Three Rivers 18,058,061 6,471,753 4,855,684 4,508,252 15,835,689 
			 Thurrock 36,834,300 18,093,000 9,491,200 5,810,800 33,395,000 
			 Torridge 5,817,680 2,262,512 1,609,458 1,071,209 4,943,179 
			 Tower Hamlets 164,285,136 87,233,780 70,031,347 0 157,265,127 
			 Trafford 34,523,270 14,929,073 6,926,421 9,053,487 30,908,981 
			 Uttlesford 19,527,000 3,508,000 11,755,000 3,764,000 19,027,000 
			 Wakefield 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Waltham Forest 67,793,005 21,553,808 44,808,614 0 66,362,422 
			 Wandsworth 95,162,697 55,211,256 25,554,763 0 80,766,019 
			 Wansbeck 13,575,630 10,496,776 1,193,764 0 11,690,540 
			 Warrington 24,867,651 11,347,326 7,531,627 4,991,123 23,870,076 
			 Warwick 19,490,073 7,222,075 6,581,657 4,484,211 18,287,943 
			 Watford 18,758,657 7,814,753 4,781,339 5,114,334 17,710,426 
			 Waveney 17,060,277 6,167,771 4,396,590 4,896,479 15,460,840 
			 Waverley 21,181,551 7,549,570 5,463,808 6,962,900 19,976,278 
			 Wealden 11,272,572 4,468,994 4,044,549 1,361,164 9,874,707 
			 Wear Valley 11,375,000 4,840,000 5,241,000 733,000 10,814,000 
			 Wellingborough 13,975,554 5,191,404 5,138,239 2,637,778 12,967,421 
			 Welwyn Hatfield 38,836,709 14,791,694 8,393,369 10,559,546 33,744,609 
			 West Lancashire 19,586,814 10,524,020 14,068,190 3,481,348 28,073,558 
			 Westminster 115,747,320 48,956,500 90,427,321 0 139,383,821 
			 Wigan 73,653,815 28,099,727 34,785,931 0 62,885,658 
			 Winchester 20,227,402 9,278,713 4,299,768 5,703,174 19,281,655 
			 Wirral 35,758,000 16,236,000 11,084,000 2,906,000 30,226,000 
			 Woking 14,438,267 7,316,384 3,561,177 3,033,756 13,911,317 
			 Wokingham 11,227,592 4,510,530 5,970,998 0 10,481,528 
			 Wolverhampton 70,194,558 42,351,194 24,329,068 0 66,680,262 
			 Wycombe 26,335,966 10,212,008 6,216,598 8,319,558 24,748,164

Housing

James Clappison: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of migration as a factor in the demand for new housing development in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) South East England; and what proportion of future household growth over the next 20 years he anticipates will be attributed to migration.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 March 2006,  Official Report, column 823W to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) that provides an estimate in relation to England. Estimates are not available for South East England.

Housing

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what allocations have been made to registered social landlords who provide housing specifically for black and minority ethnic people in Luton in each of the last five years.

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the allocations made in Luton to black, minority and ethnic (BME) registered social landlords (RSLs) through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) and Local Authority Social Housing Grant (LASHG) in each year from 2001-02 to 2005-06.
	
		
			   
			   ADP  LASHG 
			   Direct  Indirect  Direct  Indirect 
			 2001-02 691,385 514,754 0 0 
			 2002-03 0 0 252,828 0 
			 2003-04 9,532,440 0 0 0 
			 2004-05 0 0 0 0 
			 2005-06 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 10,223,825 514,754 252,828 0 
			  Notes Directindicates where an allocation has been made directly to a BME RSL Indirectindicates that the allocation has been made to another RSL to develop the scheme but once completed the ownership of the property has passed to a BME RSL.  Source:  Housing Corporation

Housing

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the likely number of people living in social rented accommodation by 2020 and the likely demand for social rented housing in each year between 2006 and 2016;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the likely demand for social rented housing in each year between 2006 and 2016.

Yvette Cooper: The number of people living in social rented accommodation by 2020 will depend on a number of factors such as net additions to the stock, take-up of intermediate housing products, and the levels of occupation and vacancies.
	The likely demand for social rented housing will also depend on a number of variables such as the size, quality, location and rent of properties made available.
	The Government are considering research on the future need for social housing and shared equity housing as part of the comprehensive review.

Leased Land

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) land and  (b) property her Department and its predecessors (i) leases and (ii) leased in (A) 1979, (B) 1983, (C) 1987, (D) 1992 and (E) 1997 in (1) the Southend West constituency, (2) Essex, (3) Hertfordshire and (4) the Metropolitan police area of London.

Angela Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government was established on 5 May 2006.
	(i) The Department currently leases the following land and property:
	
		
			  Location  Land  Property 
			 (1) Southend West constituency None None 
			
			 (2) Essex None None 
			
			 (3) Hertfordshire None Hempstead House, Hemel Hempstead 
			   Building 3, BRE, Garston, Watford 
			   Sheffield House, Stevenage 
			
			 (4) Metropolitan Police Area None Eland House, Bressenden Place, SW1 
			   Ashdown House, Victoria Street, SW1 
			
		
	
	(ii) Of the dates requested in the question, information is only readily available for 1997, and this relates to land and property leased by the former Department of the Environment, a predecessor Department. The information on land and property held for the functions of the former Department of the Environment that have passed on to the Department for Communities and Local Government is as follows:
	
		
			  Location  Land  Property 
			 (1) Southend West constituency None None 
			
			 (2) Essex None None 
			
			 (3) Hertfordshire None Sheffield House, Stevenage 
			   Seymour House, Hemel Hempstead 
			
			 (4) Metropolitan Police Area None Eland House, Bressenden Place, SW1 
			   Ashdown House, Victoria Street, SW1 
			   Portland House, Victoria, SW1 
		
	
	Property records related to the other dates are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	This answer does not include buildings occupied by Government offices, which carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.

Local Government Finance

David Kidney: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what  (a) ring-fenced and  (b) other funding he provides to local authorities to enable them to carry out work on bringing empty homes back into use.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Local housing authorities receive Housing Revenue Account subsidy which is ring- fenced for expenditure on their own housing stock and general funding (which constitutes revenue support grant, redistributed business rates and police grant) which is not ring-fenced.
	We do not hold centrally information on the proportion of Housing Revenue Grant or general funding spent by individual local authorities on bringing empty homes back into use. It is a matter for local authorities to set their budgets in accordance with local priorities which may include bringing empty homes back into use.

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the total cost was of his overnight accommodation on foreign visits in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for Ministers of State in his Department on foreign visits in each of the last three years.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing 500 or more during each financial year and total costs of all ministerial overseas travel, this information includes accommodation costs.
	Copies are available in the Library of the House.

New Schools

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning applications for new schools to be built on former landfill sites have been submitted to local authorities in England since 2000; and how many of these have been successful.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Outdoor Advertising

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to her answer of 2 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1517W, on outdoor advertising, what the terms of reference will be of the consultation on new draft regulations on control of outdoor advertisements; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The aim of the consultation is to invite the views of local planning authorities and the advertising industry on the new draft Control of Advertisements Regulations and draft circular.
	The new regulations will update and improve the current arrangements for controlling outdoor advertisements and make the legislation more responsive to the rapidly changing forms of advertising. The draft circular will clarify the legislation and provide guidance to help ensure that the system operates effectively.

Planning

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 30 March 2006,  Official Report, column 1218W, on planning, if she will  (a) include drug addiction treatment centres in the proposed new planning class C2A and  (b) create a new class separate from existing C2 consent.

Yvette Cooper: The use class C2A includes secure residential institutions. Whether a particular use falls within the C2A use class will be a matter for the local authority to determine in the first instance, on a case-by-case basis.
	We have no plans for any further changes to the Use Classes Order.

Planning

Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of appeals to the planning inspectorate have been upheld for developments in  (a) England and  (b) Surrey in each year since 2000.

Yvette Cooper: The table below shows how many and what proportion of planning appeals have been upheld nationally and in Surrey for the last five calendar years.
	
		
			   Upheld national  Upheld Surrey 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 2000 3,188 35 162 35 
			 2001 5,022 36 258 36 
			 2002 5,110 37 245 35 
			 2003 6,013 33 267 31 
			 2004 5,405 33 274 34 
			 2005 7,136 32 336 31

Planning

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will publish the results of the Government's consultation on draft Planning Policy Statement 3.

Yvette Cooper: We will publish Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing in its final form, and a summary of the responses received following the consultation exercise on the draft policy which closed on 27 February, later in the year.

Private Member's Bills

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list those private Member's Bills in respect of which her Department or its predecessors adopted a policy of neutrality in each session since 2001-02; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government was formed on 5 May 2006.
	Our position in response to private Member's Bills is normally set out by Ministers during the Second Reading debate.

Property Market

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the reasons for the failure of property transactions in the residential market; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for the failure to complete transactions after an offer was accepted.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department's 1998 research study, Key research on easier home buying and selling, reported that 28 per cent. of transactions fail between offer acceptance and completion. The research study also described the reasons why transactions fail, according to buyers and sellers. For example, the report indicated that 43 per cent. of transaction failures were attributable to an unfavourable survey report. The remaining or failed transactions were due to a seller deciding to sell elsewhere, unacceptable delays, chain breakdown and the property being taken off the market. The key findings of the research study indicated that many of the problems associated with the current system are down to information emerging later in the process and that buyers, sellers and the professionals all agreed that sellers should offer more information up front. This research will be updated during the second half of 2006.

Regional Administration

Robert Syms: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the annual income has been of each of the regional chambers in each year since their creation;
	(2)  what the annual expenditure has been of each of the regional chambers in each year since their creation;
	(3)  if he will list the  (a) sources of income and  (b) percentage of income derived from each source for each of the regional chambers for each year since their creation.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Regional assemblies are independent bodies that may obtain funding support from a number of sources including local authorities and other regional bodies. Since 2001 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has also paid grant to assemblies in support of their scrutiny, planning regional activities. Details of ODPM grant made is as follows:
	
		
			
			 2001-02 5,000,000 
			 2002-03 5,000,000 
			 2003-04 14,075,000 
			 2004-05 17,987,000 
			 2005-06 17,987,000 
		
	
	Details of total income and expenditure for assemblies is not kept centrally, but can be obtained from assemblies annual accounts, copies of which are available on individual assembly websites.

Regional Funding

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the  (a) timetable and  (b) purpose is of regional funding allocations; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The purpose of regional funding allocations (RFAs) is to enable regions better to align their strategies across the inter-related areas of transport, housing and economic development and to provide them with enhanced input into government policy development and future public spending decisions.
	Advice on priorities within indicative RFAs was invited by the end of January 2006. The Government provided an initial response to the advice in the 2006 Budget. The Government are now considering the advice provided by the regions and will set out in due course how it will be utilised and developed in the comprehensive spending review.

Residence Change

David Willetts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the percentage of the UK population that changed residence in the last year for which figures are available.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Using results from the Survey of English Housing for 2004-05, it is estimated that 11 per cent. of the population of England had changed residence within the preceding 12 months.

Shared Ownership/Key Worker Schemes

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what figures the Government collects in relation to participation in shared ownership and key worker schemes funded by  (a) central Government and  (b) the Housing Corporation.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government collect data on the number and type of completed sales through shared ownership and key worker schemes funded by the Housing Corporation. Information is also collected on the market value of the property involved, the initial equity stake purchased, the amount of mortgage, the deposit provided and where appropriate, the rent and service charges payable. In addition, data are collected on the previous housing tenure and household characteristics of purchasers, including their gross and net income and savings. The same information has been collected for a small number of sales to key workers who purchased through the previous Starter Home Initiative, which was funded by central government.
	From 1 April 2006, HomeBuy Agents, who are appointed housing associations providing a one-stop-shop and point of contact for affordable housing options in a given area in England, will additionally supply information on expressions of interest from potential applicants and the number of applications received for HomeBuy schemes. The level of detail will vary depending on the individual scheme but figures on the progress of sales for all grant-funded Open Market HomeBuy schemes will be provided.

Sustainable Communities Plan

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether water companies were consulted on the Sustainable Communities Plan.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Sustainable Communities Plan sets out the Government's vision for thriving communities. Water companies have been involved in various aspects of the Plan's implementation including being part of the regional planning process and planning for growth areas. In addition, Baroness Andrews met the water companies, the Environment Agency and OFWAT on 7 March this year at a seminar organised by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at which these issues were discussed.

Trees

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was spent on tree preservation orders in  (a) Romford,  (b) Havering and  (c) Greater London in each of the past eight years.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Unauthorised Camps

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) terms of reference and  (b) membership are of her Department's task group on the enforcement of the law on unauthorised camps.

Yvette Cooper: The first meeting of the Department's task group on enforcement in relation to Gypsies and Travellers took place today and I am pleased to announce that the group is being chaired by Sir Brian Briscoe.
	 a) The group will examine variations in the use of enforcement powers across the country and the causes of such variations, and take evidence as necessary. The group will also ensure that existing powers are used effectively, underlining the importance of adequate site provision as the key to effective enforcement. They will also act as a sounding board on potential new measures to strengthen enforcement powers.
	 b) The group consists of representatives of the local government association, the commission for racial equality, the association of chief police officers, the Home Office, the environment agency, the Royal town planning institute, the planning officers' society and the Department's Gypsy and Traveller unit.

Urban Regeneration

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what funding his Department allocated for urban regeneration in  (a) Romford,  (b) Havering and  (c) Greater London in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	My Department now primarily funds urban regeneration in London through the London Development Agency, which was established in 2000 as a functional body of the Mayor of London. The LDA is free to determine its own expenditure priorities, and the table below shows its yearly expenditure in the borough of Havering and Greater London. No figures are available below borough level.
	
		
			   million 
			   Havering  Greater London 
			 2000-01 6.3 277.1 
			 2001-02 27.5 309.1 
			 2002-03 21.4 289.4 
			 2003-04 7.1 336.0 
			 2004-05 4.5 390.6 
			 2005-06 3.0 415.5 
			 Total 69.8 2,017.7 
		
	
	My Department's Thames Gateway programme has also committed a further 12.1 million funding direct to regeneration projects in the borough of Havering since 2004. This includes 220,000 and 634,000 in 2004-05 and 2005-06 respectively, with a further 11.25 million allocated but not yet spent.
	In addition, the Government office for London has allocated 154 million from the European Regional Development Fund in selected London boroughs from 1997 to the present. Romford and Havering are not within the eligible area for ERDF funding.

Wind Turbines

Robert Key: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is his policy to include small wind turbines on domestic property as permitted development; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government want to make it easier for householders to adopt alternative energy technologies including wind turbines by removing any regulatory barriers that impose unnecessary costs or delays to householders wanting to install them.
	The planning system also needs to take account of the amenity of neighbours and the wider community. We are therefore now examining how to amend the permitted development rights for householders to install all categories of microgeneration equipment, in a way that will help promote the technologies while safeguarding amenity.
	We shall be reporting to Parliament with proposals as we have committed to do under the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill.